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ELIZABETH BEYER: Minnesotans have a long history of preserving holiday traditions from faraway lands. Think Lutefisk and Tannenbaum tree farms. Today, it's Latinos who are bringing their ancestor's traditions home to Minnesota. For Mexican Americans, the tradition starts nine nights before Christmas with a reenactment of the nativity. And it begins with a knock.

[KNOCKING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[SINGING IN SPANISH]

Inside Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Saint Paul, eight-year-old Alonzo Lozano and six-year-old Julisa Ruiz have stopped in front of a door that's meant to symbolize a house or an inn. They're playing the role of Joseph and Mary and are singing a song asking for shelter. About 100 people acting as pilgrims follow behind in a procession through the dark hallways of the church.

The reenactment is called the posada, which in Spanish means Inn or shelter. Mexicans celebrate posadas for nine nights before Christmas. The festivities end at midnight on Christmas Eve with Noche Buena, the gathering that draws Mexican and other Latin American families together to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

SPEAKER 1: It's a way to get the family together to think about the other side of Christmas.

ELIZABETH BEYER: Eloisa Lozano helped organize this year's posadas at the church. She says like many families, she brought her ancestors customs to the city's West side years ago, customs she's passed on to her American born children and grandchildren.

ELOISA LOZANO: To me, it's important because it's a tradition and it's about my faith, so I like to keep it up.

ELIZABETH BEYER: And because they're in Minnesota now, Lozano says they've had to adjust a few of the customs,

ELOISA LOZANO: Like doing the piñata outside.

[LAUGHS]

You can't do that outside. So we do that inside.

[THWACKING]

ELIZABETH BEYER: Piñatas have been a part of the posada tradition in Mexico for centuries. Legend says they symbolize evil, and the candies inside represent goodness. Once broken, the candies come pouring out as a sign of a new beginning. On this day, the kids dive to the ground to collect their sweet goodies.

[CHILDREN YELLING]

While piñatas are a symbol of Christmas for Mexicans, many Caribbean Latinos will celebrate the holiday with a more party like atmosphere. Puerto Ricans and Cubans will roast a pig and toast with a coconut flavored eggnog called a coquito. Many will attend midnight mass, then return home to eat, open presents, and party into the early hours of Christmas Day.

For Colombians, the celebration is also rooted in the Christian belief of the Christmas story. Minneapolis resident Hugo Guzman and his relatives have gathered in different houses for the last eight nights to pray and sing traditional Latin American Christmas carols. Guzman says the gatherings, music and holiday food always bring back memories from home, even though he's lived in Minnesota for 30 years.

HUGO GUZMAN: This is something that we do in Colombia. And I remember when I was a child that this was a time of excitement and all the family gets together, and it's a time for us, the kids to share with the adults. And it's different. It's something different.

ELIZABETH BEYER: Guzman says he likes to keep the Colombian tradition alive because doing so helps him balance his two identities.

HUGO GUZMAN: Something that after so many years living here we have in many ways become Americanized. And we have tried to adopt the customs of the country. This is something that still reminds us that who we are.

ELIZABETH BEYER: And who he is, Guzman says, is pretty simple.

HUGO GUZMAN: I'm a Colombian with a Minnesotan accent.

Elizabeth Beyer, Minnesota Public Radio news. Saint Paul.

[MUSIC PLAYING]