Oaxaca's First Afro Guelaguetza Demands Justice, Not Just Dance

Twelve delegations brought music, masked dancers and coastal traditions to Chacahua Isla on Monday, taking part in Oaxaca’s first Afro Guelaguetza. Organizers and officials said the festival was intended to honor communities that have long gone without recognition.

The event, La Rejunjuneada, loosely translates as “the get-together.” It took place in Chacahua Isla, a community on Oaxaca’s Pacific coast where most residents are Afro-descendant. The town sits in the Costa Chica, a coastal region spanning Oaxaca and Guerrero and a historic heartland of Afro-Mexican culture.

A Festival of Their Own

Monday’s gathering marked Oaxaca’s Afro-Mexican People’s Day, an Oct. 19 observance established in 2013. The official date has appeared on the calendar for 13 years. Only now has it led to a festival devoted entirely to Afro-Mexican traditions.

The distinction matters. Afro-Mexican communities already take part in Oaxaca’s better-known July Guelaguetza, which draws on traditions from across the state. Collantes, an Afro-Mexican town on the coast, sent its Dance of the Devils delegation to that July festival. But La Rejunjuneada put Afro-Mexican traditions on their own stage, rather than giving them a slot within the broader statewide celebration.

A procession followed the lagoon and wound through local streets before the performances began on a stage beside Chacahua Lagoon. The host delegation opened with the Fandango de Varitas. Another community performed the Turtle Dance. Two groups brought their own interpretations of the Dance of the Devils, described as a highly representative expression of Afro-Mexican culture. Dancers in horned masks stomped and leapt to the music.

Recognition and Its Limits

Officials didn’t frame the day as purely cultural. Oaxaca Gov. Salomón Jara Cruz said recognition of communities’ histories must also bring rights, justice and opportunities. His message was pointed: applause for tradition isn’t enough on its own.

Villa de Tututepec Mayor Eder Muñoz Peña spoke about the municipality’s Chatino, Mixtec and Afro-Mexican roots. He said the celebration stood for historical justice as well as cultural pride.

The numbers help explain why justice keeps coming up. In Mexico’s 2020 census, 8.6% of Guerrero residents and 4.7% of Oaxaca residents identified as Afro-Mexican or Afro-descendant, compared with 2% nationwide, according to figures from Conapred, the federal anti-discrimination agency. Now six years old, the figures show Afro-Mexican identity is concentrated in the coastal states crossed by the Costa Chica.

A Milestone Within a Milestone

Enid Azucena Torres Agustiniano also joined the festival. This summer, she became the first Afro-Mexican woman chosen as Goddess Centéotl, the main Guelaguetza’s cultural ambassador. Her selection and Monday’s festival both came in the same year, marking firsts in a celebration that had run without this kind of recognition.

Twelve delegations came to perform. Their traditions have shaped the Costa Chica for generations.

Why This Matters:

Cultural festivals can look like simple celebrations, but Monday’s event carries a harder edge. Afro-Mexican communities make up a small share of Mexico’s population, yet the 2020 census shows they’re a larger presence in Oaxaca and Guerrero, regions where public attention and investment have often been uneven. Gov. Jara Cruz said recognition must lead to rights, justice and opportunities—a standard voters and civil society can use to judge his government. A festival can honor history, but only public institutions can deliver the services, protections and opportunities that make symbolic respect part of everyday life. How Oaxaca follows through will show whether this first Afro Guelaguetza was a beginning or a one-day gesture.