The first harvest was of such importance to the Olmec that they held different festivals to ensure that it was bountiful. The festival held for the first harvest was a children’s festival at which children were dressed in green, for the harvest, and yellow, for the corn that was discovered by Quetzalcoatl and was the mainstay of the Mesoamerican diet.

During the festival the most prized child of the family, usually the first born boy, was hidden behind an elaborate mask in the hope that the members of the Sacred Order would not chose him as a sacrifice.