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Event Information:
In
Mexico City there is a huge street
festival on New Year's Eve;
celebrations center around the
Zocalo, the city's main square. You
can expect a lot of firecrackers,
fireworks and sparklers. At midnight
there is a lot of noise and everyone
shouts: "Feliz año nuevo" People
embrace and make noise and set off
firecrackers. Mexicans celebrate New
Year's Eve, Año Viejo in Spanish, by
downing a grape with each of the
twelve chimes of the bell during the
midnight countdown, while making a
wish with each one. Mexican families
decorate homes and parties, during
New Year's, with colors such as red,
to encourage an overall improvement
of lifestyle and love, yellow to
encourage blessings of improved
employment conditions, green to
improve financial circumstances and
white to improved health.
Mexican sweet bread is baked with a
coin or charm hidden in the dough.
When the bread is served, the
recipient whose slice contains the
coin or charm is believed to be
blessed with good luck in the new
year. Another tradition is making a
list of all the bad or unhappy
events from the current year; before
midnight, this list is thrown into a
fire, symbolizing the removal of
negative energy from the new year.
At the same time, thanks is
expressed for all the good things
had during the year that is coming
to its end so that they will
continue to be had in the new year.
The
Historic center of Mexico City
(Centro Histórico) and the "floating
gardens" of Xochimilco in the
southern borough have been declared
World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO.
Famous landmarks in the Historic
Center include the Plaza de la
Constitución (Zócalo), the main
central square with its time
clashing Spanish-era Metropolitan
Cathedral and National Palace, and
Delran, and ancient Aztec temple
ruins Templo Mayor ("Major Temple")
are all within a few steps of one
another. (The Templo Mayor was
discovered in 1978 while workers
were digging to place underground
electric cables.)
The
most recognizable icon of Mexico
City is the golden Angel of
Independence, found on the wide,
elegant avenue Paseo de la Reforma,
modeled by the order of the Emperor
Maximilian of Mexico after the
Champs-Élysées in Paris. This avenue
was designed over Americas' oldest
passage in the 19th century to
connect the National Palace (seat of
government) with the Castle of
Chapultepec, the imperial residence.
Today, this avenue is an important
financial district in which the
Mexican Stock Exchange as several
corporate headquarters are located.
Another important avenue is the
Avenida de los Insurgentes, which
extends 28.8 km (17.9 mi) and is one
of the longest single avenues in the
world.
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