Dispatches From Mexico City: Revolutions and Discounts

The sound of cannons could be heard around the city this past weekend as revelers celebrated Mexico’s Revolution Day. Indeed, I’ve talked before about the abundance of long weekends in Mexico before. We’re in the thick of that now. Beginning with Dios de Los Muertos until New Years, there are around a dozen days marked for celebration. And whether they’re recognized as government holidays, many -- if not most -- people still observe them. The third Monday of November is an official government holiday to mark the beginning of the 1910 Mexican Revolution. The story of the revolution itself is a long and winding one that is far too dense to get into here, but I highly recommend reading about it if you’re a history buff of any kind. I find the stories of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata endlessly interesting. The celebrations themselves are a good excuse to get out and see the city. We began the weekend by checking out a Sofar Sounds concert on the rooftop of a shared workspace building in La Roma, one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the recent earthquake. Unbeknownst to me, I was seeing one of the more popular Mexican bands of the 90’s, La Gusana Ciega (which translates to “the blind worm.”) After that, Mystery Jets from the UK came out to play a few songs ahead of their set at the massive music festival Corona Capital going on throughout the weekend. Corona Capital is one of the biggest festivals to hit the region in any given year and people are always clamoring to get tickets. Most of my friends always seem to forget about the event and as a result, I’ve never been. But I hear good things. This weekend also marked Buen Fin, which is basically Mexico’s equivalent of Black Friday. It last four days and you can find some decent discounts on clothing and household items. I was warned not to shop for electronics though. Allegedly the deals aren’t that good. Or take for example what happened in Chihuahua, where near-riots broke out after televisions were incorrectly priced at 10.99 pesos (US $0.58) instead of 10,999 pesos (US $581). Apparently, when retailers incorrectly price their products, they have to honor the lower price under the law. This caused a mad rush when shoppers realized the error. According to MexicoNewsDaily.com, televisions weren’t the only products incorrectly priced. Refrigerators were being sold for three pesos and ovens for four. While I didn’t find any deals quite that good, I did manage to find a pretty nice jacket for a decent price. These last few months of the year are a great time in Mexico when you get to enjoy the local customs, families celebrating being together, and friends and colleagues enjoying their time together. And with all that’s gone on in this country this year, I think people need that.

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Ty Trumbull, from his base in Mexico City, covers the entrepreneur’s journey and business continuity for ChannelE2E. Each Tuesday or so, he offers views about his adopted hometown — his personal Dispatches from Mexico City. Oh, but sometimes he pops up in his home nation of Canada.