The San Marcos Fair, the largest national fair in Latin America and one of the 10 largest in the world, starts this weekend in Aguascalientes.

Organized for the first time on April 25, 1828, as a celebration to St. Mark, the patron saint of the city of Aguascalientes, the Feria de San Marcos soon became a grape harvest festival as wine production used to be an important activity in the region.

Today, the fair is an important tourist attraction that is closely associated with bullfighting and cockfighting.

The exact date of the fair varies every year, but is always set around the Feast Day of Saint Mark the Evangelist on April 25.

It is organized by an independent foundation with the support of the state and city governments.

The fair’s honorary president said, “This is a fair staged by all the families in Aguascalientes for all the people in the world,” he said.

Over 2,000 cultural, trade, artistic, sports and entertainment events are organized around the fair, and eight million visitors are expected to attend over the next three weeks.

The fair starts Saturday and will conclude on May 12.

Source: El Universal (sp)