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Tlacotalpan is a sleepy place most of the year. But for the 9 days of La Candelaria it wakes up. The activity is non-stop. The town bursts at the seams. Hotels are booked a year in advance. Residents with extra rooms rent them out for the duration, and still, there isn't enough space to accommodate everyone.

We found people, mostly vendors, sleeping on cardboard boxes on our veranda just outside our windows. It reminded me of NYC during the Reagan years.