The Plant City Stadium was packed on Dec. 12 for the Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration. Matlachines dancers hopped from foot to foot, opening the procession. A midway with carnival rides and games was set up outside.
Since 2007, St. Clement Catholic Church has hosted a celebration in honor of the holiday. In the first year, more than 5,000 people attended the first day.
Throughout Mexico and the United States, the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe takes place on the same nights. Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Roman Catholic icon of Mary. In the 1500s, peasant Juan Diego saw a vision of Mary in Tepeyac, in Mexico. Her face was imprinted mysteriously on a robe when the archbishop asked for proof of her existence.