Guelaguetza: Joyous and colourful

Guelaguetza, a dance and cultural event held every year in Mexico, is a burst of colour and tradition.

Aurelio Mendez has played the wooden chirimia flute, an instrument from pre-Hispanic days, for 40 years at Mexico’s Guelaguetza festival, considered Latin America’s biggest indigenous folklore and dance event. The moustachioed 54-year-old musician is helping to keep local traditions alive in the annual festival held in the southern state of Oaxaca, home to one of Mexico’s biggest indigenous populations.