Posadas
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Posadas is a nine-day holiday beginning December 16 and ending December 24.
It represents the difficulties that Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin faced in finding room when travelling to Bethlehem. In it, groups of children go from house to house singing a traditional song requesting lodging (posada). In each house, the owner responds with refusal (also in song), until they reach the designated site for the party, where the owner recognizes Mary and Joseph and allows them to come in. Latin american countries have a celebration party related to these days.
In particular, in Mexico the tradition consists in a group of hosts (may be one family of one home or may be a number of families in the neighborhood) that prepare a typical dinner to "host" the rest of the neighbors (usually a block or section of the neighborhood). Each one of the nine days a different family (or group of families) offer to be the hosts, so that the whole neighborhood or section participates during the 9 days.
Traditionaly, it is expected to meet all the invitees in a previous procession, where people sings and prays while they walk around the the block or neighborhood section. They end up in front of one of the host's house (where the dinner is going to take place), and, upon a specific song that describes the joy of Joseph and Mary having found a place to stay for having the Child (known as "Pedir posada":Asking inn). After this song, prays finishes and the rest of the neighborhood enters the host's home.
Then, the party becomes a typical one with beverage where, in some cases, the religious sense is no longer felt. However, a piece that can never miss in a "posada" is breaking the pinata (spelled in spanish as "piñata").