During the 139th edition of Xelafer, more than 22 thousand students of different levels and educational centers of the municipality and department will be part of the parades of the Independence Fair in QuetzaltenangoAt the moment there is confirmation of 118 educational centers between public and private.
In a conference to the media, Rodrigo Villatoro, Municipal Councilor and President of the Xelafer Parades and Floats Commission, confirmed the days, times, as well as the number of establishments and students that participated in each of the parades.
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Inauguration of Xelafer 2023
Xelafer 2023 will begin with the parade of the primary level, on Friday, September 8. The participation of 30 educational centers, including public and private, was confirmed, and it is estimated that around 6,000 students can take the tour.
The parade will resume the route that was held from the 1960s to the late 1980s. It will leave the Central Park and end in the Plaza Japón in zone 3, previously it ended in the surroundings of the Temple of Minerva.
Kindergarten and Multicultural
On September 11, around 7,300 children, between the ages of 3 and 6, will participate in the parade at the pre-primary level. It will leave the Benito Juárez park and will culminate in the Plaza Japón.
In 2010, the intercultural diversity parade was created, where establishments from rural areas and municipalities near the departmental capital participate. In this 2023 the tour is resumed, after the pandemic. To date there are 14 municipalities and each of them will be represented by an educational establishment. In total, it is estimated that 1,200 students will walk the streets of Quetzaltenango on September 13.
Independence Parade
The Central American Independence Fair, wears its best clothes on September 15, where visitors from various departments arrive to commemorate the independence of the country. For this 2023, 7,600 students from 38 educational centers will parade, as confirmed by Rodrigo Villatoro, president of the Parades and Floats Commission.
The parade will start at 7 a.m. It will start from the Benito Juárez park in zone 3 and end at the Tecún Umán roundabout in zone 7.
For this 2023, the fair activities will return in the new normality, the fair was suspended during 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic and was partially resumed during 2022; For this year, the facilities of the Center for Fairs and Markets of Quetzaltenango (CEFEMERQ) will again house bazaars, exhibitions and mechanical games, after the COVID-19 Temporary Hospital will operate in that space for three years.
