Radishes the size of a forearm, and one night to see them

By Isla Quinn

Red skin. White flesh. A knife, a few toothpicks and a day to finish. That is the whole kit for the Night of the Radishes, the Oaxaca contest held each year in the main square in the run-up to Christmas. The radishes are carved into scenes, shown for a few hours, and gone by the next morning.

What it is

Wikipedia calls Noche de Rábanos an annual event dedicated to carving oversized radishes into scenes that compete for prizes in several categories. NPR, in a 2012 report, says it takes place every year in the main plaza, the zócalo, in the days before Christmas.

How it began, in two tellings

Wikipedia says radishes were introduced by the Spanish, and that in the colonial period farmers began carving them to catch shoppers’ eyes at the Christmas market held in the main square. It says Oaxaca already had a long woodcarving tradition. NPR says local woodcarvers applied their skills to the radishes.

In 1897 the city’s mayor formalized the display into a competition, which Wikipedia says has run every year since. NPR gives the same year and says cash prizes followed.

Dates in order

Colonial period: radishes carved at the Christmas market, according to Wikipedia.
1897: the mayor formalizes a contest, according to Wikipedia and NPR.

Grown for the contest, not for dinner

This is the part most visitors do not expect. Wikipedia says that as the city grew over the old farmland, the municipal government set aside land near El Tequio Park for the contest radishes. The blog puts the field near the airport. Both say the authorities handle the planting, and both say the radishes are not for eating. Wikipedia adds that they are left in the ground long past a normal harvest to reach monumental sizes; the blog says they are planted at intervals over three months. Wikipedia says they are heavily fertilized and chemically treated; the blog says chemicals are used to make them larger. The current type has a red skin and a white interior, Wikipedia says, and is softer than older varieties. A white variety called criollo, it says, was used earlier and has disappeared.

Contestants register months ahead, according to NPR, and authorities oversee growing and harvesting so nobody gets an unfair advantage.

Side by side: how big, how many

Length: up to fifty centimeters, according to Wikipedia; up to 20 inches, according to NPR.
Weight: up to three kilos, according to Wikipedia; up to 6 pounds, according to NPR; up to 7 pounds, according to the blog.
Harvest: twelve tons for the event in 2014, according to Wikipedia; about 10 tons in 2012, according to NPR; around 10 tons a year, according to the blog.
Contestants: over 100, according to all three. Wikipedia breaks down 2014 as 94 adults, 61 youth and 50 children.

These are different years and rounded numbers, so the gaps may not be conflicts. We list them without choosing.

What gets carved

Wikipedia says most entries are scenes using multiple radishes, with the most traditional being nativity scenes, and that over the contest’s long history the themes have widened to Oaxacan life: festivals, folklore, food, animals and handcrafts. The blog mentions the mole and cacao-making process among the subjects. NPR says many carvings are religious but some are secular. Our reading: whatever the theme, what you see is a town portrait in vegetable form.

Wikipedia says contestants use knives and toothpicks, and that the leafy tops are cut off and sometimes reused in a scene. It adds that the red skin can be peeled and flattened to make clothing or flags, and that the current softer radish pushed carvers toward the contrast between skin and flesh. Wikipedia also says current woodcarvers do not tend to compete, because the material is so different.

Beyond radishes

There are two more categories, according to Wikipedia and the blog. One uses dried corn husks, called totomoxtle. The other uses a dried flower called flor inmortal, “immortal flower,” so named because it dries quickly and keeps much of its color.

The evening

Because radishes wilt after cutting, Wikipedia says the display runs only a few hours from late afternoon, with stands set up the morning before and taken down the morning after.

What kind of sources these are

Wikipedia (open encyclopedia); NPR (a national public radio news site, report from December 2012); Oaxaca Travel Tips (a travel blog by a resident, with affiliate links and so promotional).

What we left out

We left out prize amounts, hotel suggestions, the political and religious entries named in the encyclopedia, and any schedule, because the sources we read give no official program.

Quick answers

When is the Night of the Radishes? Each year in the days before Christmas, in Oaxaca’s main square, according to NPR.
Can you eat the radishes? No. Wikipedia and the Oaxaca Travel Tips blog both say the contest radishes are grown with chemicals and are not suitable for eating.
When did the contest start? Wikipedia and NPR give 1897, when the city’s mayor formalized the display into a competition.

Roam first. Shop later.

/sell-with-sephari/