The annual Return of the Chili Queens festival seems to transplant this whole end of town south of the border: there are stalls selling the full, mad range of Mexican wrestling masks, and the sombrero-topped mariachi troupes stationed outside each restaurant somehow succeed in exuding an air of sombre artistry.
That probably explains the reason why Benedict wore a broad-brimmed sombrero on arriving at Guanajuato state's Bicentennial Park to celebrate a mass attended by hundreds of thousands.
Last year's standouts were Angry Birds impersonators, mostly male tutu-clad "Black Swan" ballet dancers, and troupes of sombrero-sporting Mexicans (since it was the Mexican team's first year in the tournament).