Meeting of Popular Cultures and Indigenous Peoples in Querétaro

The Encuentro de Culturas Populares del Estado de Querétaro (Meeting of Popular Cultures of the State of Querétaro) originated as an initiative for the visibility of projects of the Programa de Acciones Culturales Multilingües y Comunitarias (Program of Multilingual and Community Cultural Actions) (PACMYC) in public spaces.

These allow the population to know which are the most recent work proposals for the preservation, revaluation and promotion of popular culture projects. Over the years, several wills have been added to carry out this event, to the point that in 2021 we will celebrate the 20th edition.

Beyond a cultural forum, it became a meeting place. Artisans, creators, musicians and other purveyors of culture gather once a year to share a common space and rediscover stories. Hence, traditional food has come to be part of this celebration of culture, in a primordial way.

Food is not an add-on to this event, but something that makes the meeting itself more meaningful. It provides a deep meeting space, between the flavors and the participants, between the regions and the ways of understanding food; between yesterday and today.

It is like this year after year, through the Meetings of popular culture, which has contributed to the promotion and dissemination of various manifestations of the intangible cultural heritage of our organization.

This space has become an opportunity for the production, preparation and consumption of traditional food in our communities. And the specific tone through which these actions are carried out has been with the participation of purveyors of these traditions and knowledge.

We are not talking about a gastronomical fair, it is rather an opportunity to deepen the taste, history and life of the chefs.

Above all, it is an opportunity to share, where the chefs share with other traditional chefs, and take to the inhabitants of the great cities their knowledge by showing their preparation techniques, wrapped up in their tradition inherited by generations.

Like any dish, a meeting of culture requires the necessary ingredients. 

We need to integrate a schedule that is composed mainly of the purveyors of tradition, and community collectives and groups.

As far as possible, the basic guest list is intended to arise from the PACMYC projects. In this way, the wealth of the indigenous peoples, their cuisine and, above all, their traditions and knowledge are disseminated in these meetings.