Radish sculpture at the 2005 Noche de Rábanos (Photo by Laine Towey) Most of us carve our holiday vegetables in late October, when we sculpt pumpkins (or turnips) into fearsome Halloween forms. In one Mexican town, though, veggies get festive on Christmas. For more than a century, Oaxaca's Noche de Rábanos, or Radish Night, has been a tantalizing appetizer before the Christmas feast. Each December 23, the zocalo -- the town square -- overflows with elaborate displays made of dried flowers, corn husks, and the stars of the show, radishes. Local artists spend days whittling huge radishes into human figures, animals, and buildings. Detailed nativity scenes and dioramas of Oaxacan culture often take center stage. The striking colors and bumpy, twisted shapes of the root vegetables influence the subject matter and composition, like wood or stone in traditional sculpture. But radish art is fleeting. For just a few hours, the zocalo is transformed into a magical world of tiny radish people in a crunchy red and white landscape. At the end of the night, the winning carver is announced, and the radishes of Oaxaca can rest easy for another year. Suggested Sites... Radish Night (Noche de Rábanos) - an illustrated history of the Oaxacan festival. Radish Night - a Flickr slideshow of impressive radish carvings. Noche de Rábanos - many images of the festival, with text in Spanish. Radish Recipes - if the carvings don't work out, you can always eat the rejects.

Directory categories: Night of the Radishes, Christmas in Mexico, Mexican Holidays, Christmas

Archived under: Christmas, Holidays, Mexico, Regional

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