A mariachi band, and a girl with a chihuahua, accompany the opening of the "Vintage Ajijic" exhibition at the Galería al Aire Libre Axixic in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.

Lola La Tequilera sings mariachi after the Night of the Dead parade.

Mariachi Real Axixic plays traditional mariachi music in the town plaza.

Mariachi is one of Mexico's most popular and emblematic forms of music. It originated in Western Mexico, with some stories placing the birth of modern mariachi in Cocula, Jalisco.

The parade has lots of charros, vaqueros, and escaramuzas, dressed in some of their finest, such as Daniel Medeles, leader of Mariachi Real Axixic.

Mariachi Axixic Real performs in the grandstand of the lienzo charro with the town's delegado on guitar.

Fiesta Cultural Sangre VivaMariachi Tradicional de Acatic is one of the music groups that usually perform during the three-day weekend. They plan an original, older version of mariachi as it sounded in the 19th-century before the inclusion of the vihuela.

The instruments used to play mariachi music in the 19th century included tuned rocks, wood blocks and armadillo shells.

Inside Cholula restaurant with a mariachi group playing for a table of customers.

Listen to Mariachi Music

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