San Juan de la Vega is a town in the state of

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The town has been inhabited since at least the 16th Century. It has grown considerably in the past few years, and currently has two Catholic churches. During the weekends, there is an open market in the town square call "El Jardin" where local people sell items such as plants, clothing, shoes, fresh fruit and vegetables. It is a known producer of

carrots The carrot (''Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nativ ...

jícama ''Pachyrhizus erosus'', commonly known as jícama ( or ; Spanish ''jícama'' ; from Nahuatl ''xīcamatl'', ) Mexican turnip, is the name of a native Mexican vine, although the name most commonly refers to the plant's edible tuberous root. Jíca ...

and cereals. This town is about 15–20 minutes from

Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 3 ...

. They hold an annual celebration celebrating their patron saint San Juan Bautista which the town is named after. They take the saint to walk around the whole town and each year a house is in charge of the saint.

Festival of the Exploding Hammers

San Juan de la Vega is most noted for its unique exploding sledgehammer festival as a tribute to "San Juanito", which takes place every February. Locals affix homemade explosives to heads of hammers; which are then smashed into roads and concrete. The celebration stems from the 17th century when the town’s namesake, considered “Mexico’s

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

”, battled with the area’s wealthy landowners. The modern day celebration is a reenactment of this skirmish. Despite the concern of several groups and calls to end the tradition, the festival has continued for over 300 years. In 2020, the festival led to 43 injuries.

References

Populated places in Guanajuato {{Guanajuato-geo-stub