Songs, Sweetness, Tradition: Las Posadas Begin at Olvera Street

Weaving the most treasured traditions of the season into a hectic holiday schedule?

Plenty of people will be attempting to do just that as Christmas draws near.

But one of those time-honored traditions offers a reflection-deep respite from all that hecticness, giving people who attend a quieter and more introspective window onto a season that never seems to stop.

It's Las Posadas, a moving event that is annually observed in Mexico each December, as well as throughout the southwestern United States and far beyond.

You can find the hallowed observation in Santa Fe, and Tucson, and other regional spots over the course of a single night or two, but if you're in Los Angeles, you'll want to look to Olvera Street, where the candlelit loveliness happens over nine evenings.

Those evenings have begun, and they'll conclude on Christmas Eve, which is a Friday in 2021.

During the event? The search for the inn is remembered, in song and lyric, as musicians play guitars, and other instruments, while they stroll the historical district.

"We leave from the Avila Adobe and stop at a different shop each night ending on the 24th back at the Avila Adobe for the presentation of the baby Jesus and Marisol singing the 'Ave Maria,'" a post on the Olvera Street Facebook page reveals.

Adding to the spirit of the song-filled happening?

Oh so fun: A nightly piñata. The appearance of the colorful candy container begins the night, before the procession begins at 7 o'clock, so be sure to be at Olvera Street by 6:30, if you'd like to watch or your kids want to take a turn.

And after the contemplative, canción-sweet walk around the storied thoroughfare concludes?

Stay for more sweetness, in the festive forms of conchitas and champurrado, two delicious Mexican classics.