By Alfredo Espinola
In October, the air in the cobbled streets of Yecapixtla fills with smoke, spices, and memories, the unmistakable aroma of freshly roasted cecina sizzling on the comal. As every year, Morelos becomes a meeting point that offers more than just food; it offers an experience that tastes of history, community, and identity.
From October 23 to 31, the 2025 Cecina Fair and Tianguis Grande Yecapixtla will once again transform the heart of the municipality into a sensory feast. It is not only a gastronomic celebration, but also a declaration of love for the land that feeds and unites its people with every shared bite and the smiles that cross its streets, reaffirming the motto of the state of Morelos, “The land that unites us.”
The heritage that seeks its own name
Amidst the excitement, there is a process that beats strongly, the search for the territorial designation of origin for Yecapixtla cecina, a recognition that not only protects a product but also honors the generations and hands that make it, turning the techniques of salting, drying, and roasting into a way of life.
“The process to obtain the designation is progressing positively,” explained Daniel Altafi Valladares, Secretary of Tourism for Morelos, adding, “this recognition will support its authenticity and its link to the land and its people.”
In his voice, one perceives more than just public administration; one senses the desire for Yecapixtla to occupy its rightful place on the country's gastronomic map.
A feast for the senses
For nine days, the fair will offer a program of cultural, artistic, and gastronomic activities, as well as music mixed with the crackling of embers, dances that evoke the times of the former Convent of San Juan Bautista, and tables full of dishes that recall its history.
The announcement of this edition was made precisely in the former Convent of San Juan Bautista, an architectural jewel from the 16th century, in the presence of the municipal president, Heladio Rafael Sánchez Zavala, and the local deputy, Francisco Erik Sánchez Zavala, president of the State Congress Tourism Commission. Within its walls, the words of those who know that gastronomic tourism can also be a form of development and well-being resonated.
A town that turns its heritage into the future
Yecapixtla preserves not only a recipe, but a philosophy: that of turning simplicity into art, work into pride, and tradition into a path to the future. Here, cecina is not sold, it is shared. More than flavor, each visitor takes with them memories and stories that will live on as long as there is fire and meat in the sun.
In Morelos, the spring of Mexico, traditions do not wither; they sprout year after year, just like the colors of its fairs and the laughter in its squares. To visit Yecapixtla is to savor history and feel in every corner that the roots of a people can continue to grow, even if they are roasted over the slow fire of time.