Drunken Horse Racing

The Skach Koyl or Drunken Horse Racing festival, which takes place each year in the Mayan Highlands around November 1st or Dia de Todos Los Santos, is one of the more bizarre and famous Guatemala festivals. Locals drink, dance, listen to marimba music, and carouse for three days before the marathon on November 1.

The competitors then don special hats and drink themselves into a stupor on race day, racing their horses around a circuit or through the village. To avoid falling from their horses and being trampled, many must be tethered to their saddles. Consider it a booze-fueled Guatemalan equivalent of the Spanish bullfight. The individual who stays on his horse for the longest wins the race.

The community of Todos Santos Cuchumatán is notable for its distinct and well-preserved Mam Maya customs, which extend beyond the depravity of its Drunken horse racing festivals. Men in the area wear red and white striped trousers, blue, purple, and white embroidered collar shirts, and straw hats with woven ribbons. A woven textile bag is usually thrown across their shoulder.

Date: Every year at the end of October