In the historic Centro district of Guanajuato, cars are at a distinct disadvantage. Most streets don’t allow cars at all. There are only two main arteries through the area, and both of them are one lane and one way–both going the same direction. Most of the traffic through town is redirected through underground tunnels, as depicted in the photo above.
But for Día de los Muertos, they close one of the tunnels for the five day celebration and turn it over to what you might call a pop-up market. Many dozens of vendors line either side of the tunnel. There are some of the usual stalls selling souvenir fare that you can find anywhere, but many offer a wide variety of wonderful artesanal products from regional artists and entrepreneurs, including leather work, masks, jewelry, steelwork, soap, lotions, clothing, etc. There are also dozens of restaurants serving almost anything you can think of, and even more pop-up bars, pushing all manner of beverages–especially tequila and mezcal. All of these stalls and wagons and constructions are interspersed with displays and sculptures in the theme of the holiday.
It’s difficult to determine the length of this tunnel of death, but it was at least a half-mile, and could have been closer to a mile. At any rate, I took some photos. Here they are.
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