Every year hundreds of pilgrims head out from the towns of Santiago Xalintzintla, Tlamacas and San Nicolas de Los Ranchos in van and trucks to drive, then walk up the 17,886-foot (5,450-meter) volcano for their day long celebration. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

Participants bring grapes, corn, watermelon, chicken and tequila hoping to appease “Don Goyo” as they call the mountain, from the Nahuatl language. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

People celebrate the day of Don Gregorio Chino Popocatepetl, as the volcano is known to them, with food, music, dance and fireworks. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

People from the villages surrounding the Popocatepetl volcano make their yearly pilgrimage up the volcano in Mexico. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

People who live in nearby villages dance on the slope of the of the Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

A man plays the tuba during the yearly pilgrimage on the slopes of the Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

Musicians with clarinets, a trombone, a tuba and drums play as pilgrims participate in hours of song, prayers, fireworks and dancing. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

People participate in a ceremony on a rock formation on the slopes of the Popocatepetl volcano to make offerings and play music in asking the mountain to spare them from eruptions. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

A villagers blows on a conch shell during a ceremony on a rock formation on the slopes of the Popocatepetl volcano. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)

An offering of food and drink is placed during a ceremony on the slopes of the Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico. (Photo by Eduardo Verdugo/AP Photo)