Tepatepec

Tepatepec is the seat of Francisco I. Madero municipality, named after the revolutionary president, though the town keeps its own Nahuatl name, usually translated as "stony place". It lies in the Mezquital Valley at 1,975 metres, on a plain with a dry temperate climate, an average of about 17 °C and only 540 mm of rain a year; local water drains toward the Actopan River basin. In 1953 a UNESCO publication described it as a village of 4,000 people with a school; by 2020 it had 11,335. Politician Xóchitl Gálvez was born here.

Farming in the municipality is built on maize and, by sheer volume, alfalfa, with sheep, pigs and cattle, and there is a weekly street market. What brings visitors, though, is a stuffed corn cake: the gordita de panza, filled with beef tripe prepared the traditional way and sold all over town, above all at the main market. Other fillings include green mole, picadillo, tinga, steak with nopales or beans, served with cream and cheese, alongside local pulque and curados. The town holds the "Pueblos con Sabor" food seal.

Every December since the mid-2010s the Festival de la Gordita takes over the centre for a full day. The 13 December 2025 edition ran under the slogan "Orgullosamente hñähñus", a nod to the Otomí culture of the Mezquital, and featured a run starting at the kiosk in the main garden, displays of crafts and pulque, a traditional indigenous medicine workshop, puppets, folk dance, banda and rock music and rayuela tournaments. Earlier editions added acocoteros, who draw aguamiel from the maguey with the acocote, plus tlacoyos, quesadillas, ice cream and traditional sweets.