It seems like yesterday when Festa del Cactus hosted Santos De La Cruz Carrillo official spokesman for the Wixárika people (also known as Huichol).
Giorgio Archetti, former San Lazzaro di Savena City Councilor for the Environment, presents the City’s pennant to Santos De La Cruz Carrillo at Festa del Cactus.
The year was 2015, and Santos had embarked on a long journey around the world to make the voice of his people heard, an ethnic group that still resists by defending its identity and cultural values, but which was forced to fight against everything and everyone to defend the sanctuary sites where, since the dawn of time, the peyote cult has been carried out; a land threatened by industrial farming and mining enterprises where it was increasingly difficult and dangerous to penetrate to officiate their beliefs.
It was the 10th edition of our event, and we decided to support this cause, which was also aimed at protecting the sacred cactus Lophophora williamsii, promoting the conference ‘In Cammino per Wirikuta’ with the collaboration of Maria Mendicino, representative of the Friends of Wirikuta Association and the sponsorship of the City of San Lazzaro di Savena.
Well, we are happy to learn that after tani years of continuous efforts, as of yesterday, July 12, 2025, Wirikuta and other sacred places of the Wixárika people’s borders and ancestral pilgrimage routes are inscribed as World Heritage Sites with UNESCO!
Group photo in Bologna of Santos with Andrea, Ada and representation from the Italian Friends of Wirikuta Association.
