Just as every year since 1897, the Night of Radishes is a people’s festival in which horticulturists exhibit their fanciful creations made from radishes, straw flowers and corn husks.

What started out as a marketing gimmick (Center pieces for the Christmas banquet table) became a time honored tradition. In 1908 it became “Noche de Rábanos”, and in 1922 the radish and flower stands were placed in the Alameda de Leon (in front of the Cathedral).

Although the event only lasts a few hours, a great number of inhabitants and visitors congregate in the Zocalo to view the creativity of the participants in this annual contest.

Carrying out this pageant of creativity requires months of preparation, starting with the planting of the radishes and continuing to a few days prior to the event when the participants have to go to harvest the things they will need to make their artistic creations.

According to some sources from distant times, the first open air exposition of Noche de Rábanos was held in the Plaza de Marqués or Plaza de las Armas, today Jardin de la Constitución.

After the first contest it became the custom to celebrate it every year. The Imparcial News Paper from Mexico City called it the “Traditional Plaza of the Radishes.”

Noche de Rábanos is among the most alluring and singular celebrations of the Christmas season here in our city, because it takes us closer to the wonderful Oaxacan world, expressed in the ephemeral sweetness of artisan works that masterfully reflect our customs and identity.

As far as its origin, the various versions coincide in that the “Market of the Christmas Vigil” in which Oaxacan families of the 18th. and 19th, centuries went to by the necessary things for the great feast to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child. Homemakers would go to the stands, that were all decorated with radishes and onions that were carved into the shape of flowers, creating an elegant setting for the fish the salads, the fowl, the chilies and the chocolate that form a part of the Christmas meal.

The art work that can be seen at the exposition show the most traditional festivals, and local customs, which makes it clear that the people refuse to forget their cultural values, which give meaning to human interactions. This age old festival attractive to locals and visitors alike and blends tradition with the splendid magical scene of a Oaxacan Night.