If Carnival 2024 is approachingthis year, the Mission District community is celebrating the theme “Honor Your Native Roots.”
And for a local leader who passionately prepares her festival carriage, each rose is a deep symbol of love for her Mayan culture.
“Bashka Walee: It means: ‘Como estas, how are you?’” said Lydia Candila Chan in the ancient Mayan language.
The professor of Mayan and Mexican heritage is the founder of the Mayan Association, where she supports community members new to the Bay Area. Chan not only teaches the ancient Mayan language, but she also works hard to keep it alive.
“I want to preserve the culture, everything that has to do with our community,” Chan said.
And she has been committed to that vision from her days in the Yucatan to the days she spent in the Mission District. Through financial support from other like-minded nonprofits, Chan helps immigrants with Mayan heritage acclimate to the Bay Area.
That’s why Carnival is so important to her and her community this year.
“This Carnival means a lot to them because some of them cannot leave the country, so we bring the music so they can listen and be happy,” Chan said.
But it’s not just a chance to enjoy her culture, it’s also a chance to share it.
Gabriela Uluac, a recent migrant of Mayan heritage, looks forward to sharing her community’s unique Mayan foods.
As Chan prepares a distinctly Mayan backdrop for the float, imported from the Yucatan, she said the music and dancing will bring a familiar joy to her community.
“I want them to feel at home,” Chan said.
And home is what they will share, at the festival. The two-day event will take place this Saturday and Sunday.
