Quetzalcoatl Ceremony: Annual Festival [2 days] // San Jose
Bring a picnic blanket or chair and enjoy a day of traditional dance and live performance by Inti Mystica. Support Indigenous vendors from Guatemala and Oaxaca , Mexico.
🎉 Event Schedule:
đź“Ť Friday, May 16, 2025
Plática: “The Meaning of Quetzalcoatl”
🕕 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Featuring Tat Pascual Yaxon (Mayan Kaqchikel Ajq’ij)
📌 MACLA, 510 S. First Street, San José, CA
đź“Ť Saturday, May 17, 2025
📌 Plaza de César Chávez, Downtown San José
🕦 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM | Cantos / Opening Songs
🕛 12:00 PM – 3:30 PM | Danza Azteca
🛍️ 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Indigenous Marketplace
🎶 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Live Music featuring Inti Mystica.
About festival:
You’re invited to a weekend of cultural celebration, healing, and connection through traditional Aztec Dance and Drumming, an Indigenous Marketplace, and a live performance by Inti Mystica!
This two-day gathering uplifts Indigenous traditions and invites community members into a sacred space for dialogue, reflection, and collective healing. At a time when Indigenous and Black communities continue to face erasure and systemic harm, gatherings like this are vital acts of visibility, resilience, and empowerment.
🌀 Co-hosted by:
Tezkatlipoka Aztec Dance and Drum & Movimiento Cósmico Aztec Dance – two community-rooted organizations dedicated to preserving and sharing the ancestral traditions of Latin America.
🎟 Free and open to the public. All ages welcome.
Let’s dance, learn, and build together in the heart of downtown San José.
Who was Quetzalcoatl?
Quetzalcoatl, which translates to “Feathered Serpent” in the Nahuatl language, was one of the most important deities in the pantheon of Mesoamerican cultures.
He was worshiped by various groups, including the Toltecs, Maya, and most famously, the Aztecs.
Quetzalcoatl embodied duality, symbolizing both the physical aspect of the serpent and the spiritual aspect of the feathered bird.
He was the god of wind, learning, and culture, and was associated with the dawn and the planet Venus.
Evidence of his worship:
The influence of Quetzalcoatl is evident in numerous archaeological findings throughout Mesoamerica.
Depictions of the Feathered Serpent can be found on various artifacts, including pottery, sculptures, and murals.
His image is prominently featured in architecture as well, such as the Temple of the Feathered Serpent at Teotihuacan and the Quetzalcoatl Temple Complex at El TajĂn.
These discoveries demonstrate the widespread reverence and importance of Quetzalcoatl in the region.
