Candelaria 2023 [] Bonnie Lee Black

Published February 10, 2023

by Bonnie Lee Black

If there is a heaven, I hope it’s a lot like this.

I’ve been visiting the Candelaria plant fair here in San Miguel de Allende’s grand old Parque Juarez every day since it opened on February 1st and I’ll likely continue this pattern until its closing day on the 15th. To me, this annual event, which heralds springtime, is heaven on earth.

Sometimes, with outstretched, inclusive arms, I enthuse to the vendors I pass, who by now recognize me, “Este es el paraíso!” (this is paradise!). They’re quick to nod and smile back at me.

If you haven’t yet been to San Miguel’s Candelaria Fair, now in its sixty-seventh year, imagine this: A huge park (the overall size of three soccer fields, I’m guessing) filled with soaring trees more than a century old, and winding, brick-laid walkways that are now during the Candelaria lined with open stalls displaying eye-poppingly beautiful plants for sale.

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