The small village of El Cedral in Cozumel is getting ready for a the annual Festival of El Cedral and the Fiestas of Santa Cruz, from Thursday, April 26 to Thursday, May 3, 2018.

Events will include rodeos, bullfights, riding displays, music, dancing, horse racing, roast meat feasts and more, all based at the old village of El Cedral in the island's south.

This annual local event is thought to be over 160 years old and started by an early settler to the island who was fleeing war on the mainland.

Legend has it that the tradition was first established by Casimiro Cárdenas, one of a band that fled to the island during the War of the Castes after seeing many of his companions killed in a vicious attack on his village of Saban on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Running from the slaughter, Cárdenas is said to have escaped to Cozumel whilst clutching a small wooden cross and vowed to honor the crucifix's religious strength by founding an annual festival wherever he settled.

The celebrations are open every year to locals and visitors alike. If you attend be ready for the dust from thousands of hooves and dancing revellers' feet!

Festival-goers will enjoy traditional Yucatecan and Mexican feasts and parties, as well as music, dancing, competitions, rodeos, bullfights and plenty of ice cold Mexican beer.