Fiestas Patronales are patron-saint festivals, annual celebrations held by a town or city in honor of its protector, here Saint Michael the Archangel. They blend faith, culture & the simple act of people coming together.
Fiestas Patrias are the civic holidays, commemorating independence & national identity.
San Miguel calls itself the Fragua de la Independencia, the forge where independence was planned in the Casa de los Conspiradores & where the first free Ayuntamiento was sworn in. That history is why Fiestas Patrias feel bigger here than almost anywhere else in Mexico.
The patron-saint side is the more mystical, more sanmiguelense half. It really begins in mid-August with the Reseña & builds for six weeks to the Alborada before dawn on Sept 29.