The third of November is the day that Cuenca celebrates the city's independence. Once upon a time, Cuenca was ruled by Incans and was called Tumebamba. Around 1550 the Spanish conquered the city. On the 12th of April, 1557 Gil Ramirez Dávalos declared the city under the rule of the king of Spain and re-named it Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca. Many years later, under guidance of many revolutionaries like Simon Bolivar, Cuenca declared independence from Spain in 1820 on Nov. 3rd.
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Street performers juggling |
To remember and celebrate Cuenca's independence from Spain, a full week was dedicated to festivities. This week has been one of my favorites of the entire trip. The streets and parks filled up with performers and tents for merchants from nearby towns and countries who were selling artwork and clothes. On the second and third, there were parades.
Overall, the celebrations of Cuenca lasted much longer than those of our Independence Day. Also, they were only for the city rather than the entire country. But some aspects of the independence day celebrations for Cuenca were pretty similar to those in America, in the sense that there were parades, fireworks and parties. The liveliness and sense of national pride made the atmosphere so enjoyable! The entire week was really amazing.
The pictures shown above are from the parade on the second of November. The parade took place on the street "Simon Bolivar" in honor of his leadership. The colorful skirts with white embroidered blouses, shown in the pictures above, is the traditional indigenous attire for Cuenca.
Similar to in America, this parade had many floats, music, confetti, and candy. The vivid colors of costumes and the lively atmosphere of the parade was more fun for me to experience than most parades in the US that I have seen. Somethings unique to Ecuador were the traditional attire, and the distribution of roses and colada morada (a traditional holiday drink). On the third, there was a military parade which the President of Ecuador came for.
Every night of this week, the street next to the soccer stadium was closed off for live music. There was live music and probably over a thousand people there until about midnight each night.Even though drinking on the streets is officially illegal, there were vendors everywhere around the stadium selling bottles of alcohol, which came with a complementary cup to drink out of! The liquor stores do the same thing any night of the week, except on Sundays when it is illegal to sell liquor.
On the night of the second, the city set off fireworks. A group of us went to a church high up in the mountain called Iglesia de Turi, where there was a couple hundred people and live music playing. Something very different from the US was the lack of safety precautions used for the fireworks. They were set off not even 500 feet from where the entire crowd and stage was located!
Also like in many Asian cultures, a few sky lanterns were set off. I understand that this practice is to symbolize one's problems floating away, as well as good luck.
Every night of this week, the street next to the soccer stadium was closed off for live music. There was live music and probably over a thousand people there until about midnight each night.Even though drinking on the streets is officially illegal, there were vendors everywhere around the stadium selling bottles of alcohol, which came with a complementary cup to drink out of! The liquor stores do the same thing any night of the week, except on Sundays when it is illegal to sell liquor.
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| Iglesia de Turi |
Also like in many Asian cultures, a few sky lanterns were set off. I understand that this practice is to symbolize one's problems floating away, as well as good luck.
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| sky latern launching |
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