Photo by Rick Tang
PARADE The Guelaguetza kicks off with a noon parade around the Plaza, with the Azucenas de Maria group from Selma, California, among others.
The beat of pounding feet, the jangle of spurs and the snap of whips marked the dances of Oaxaca in the Healdsburg Plaza last Sunday. The southern Mexican state is home to some 16 cultural groups and two major native languages. Over the centuries an annual gathering to share their common interests grew, becoming known as a Guelaguetza …
The event traditionally takes place in July, the birth month of Benito Juarez, the Zapotec president of Mexico (the word “Guelaguetza” is from a Zapotec word meaning “reciprocal exchanges of gifts and services”). Since 2013 the Santa Rosa organization Oaxaca Tierra del Sol has organized Guelaguetzas in Sonoma County to support Indigenous Oaxacans or “Oaxaqueños” in the area. For the first time this year it was held in Healdsburg at the Plaza on Sunday, July 27, in association with the City of Healdsburg Community Services.
Photo by Christian Kallen WEAVERS Women of the Triqui Indigenous community demonstrate weaving on a traditional backstrap loom at the Healdsburg Plaza gazebo during the Guelaguetza on July 27, 2025.Photo by Rick Tang PARADE The Guelaguetza kicks off with a noon parade around the Plaza, with the Azucenas de Maria group from Selma, California, among others.Photo by Christian Kallen
DEMONS Some of the masks used by the dancers of Diablos Oaxaqueños, from Napa, San Jose and Concord.Photo by Rick Tang
DEVIL DANCERS Members of Diablos Oaxaqueños traveled from other North Bay communities to join Healdsburg’s Guelaguetza.Photo by Christian Kallen BILLBOARD A poster advertises the Guelagueza taking place on the plaza stage in the background.Photo by Rick Tang WOMEN of Oaxaca at the Healdsburg Guelaguetza, 2025.