Las Posadas are processions which take place in Mexico on nine consecutive evenings leading up to Christmas Eve. A boy and a girl are chosen to represent Mary and Joseph and they process through the town, carrying lanterns and candles, and re-enacting the story of Joseph and Mary being turned away from the inns.
They sing at each of the houses they stop at. Each night a different house is chosen to be the one that offers shelter, and a party is hosted there. There is a meal with carols (called villancicos), small gifts of fruit and sweets are exchanged and the children break a piñata shaped like a star.