A delightful, colorful festival

While we’ve been used to spectacular landscapes in Bolivia and the country being rough on the edge, nothing prepared us for the type of stay we had in Sucre. Sucre is by far the most beautiful town we’ve seen so far in Bolivia (and according to most travel guides, in all of Bolivia).

Much to our delight, Ania and I realized that we had decided to stop in Sucre right at the time when Sucre goes all-in in the gigantic festival Virgen de Guadelupe in early September.

Bolivians from all over the country congregate in Sucre to celebrate the city’s patron saint. The festival was a multi-day affair, with the first procession being composed of cars that are richly decorated by labor unions. At night, a concert took place around the central plaza. Now any light sleepers should do well to visit the town on a different date. Indeed countless fireworks and firecrackers were set off until 5 AM (Thank God I didn’t forget to bring my earplugs).

And then the next day the festival took an even more vibrant twist. Colorfully dressed dance groups paraded to the beats of the brass bands until the early morning hours. The colors were vivid, the bands played excellent tunes, the ladies were gorgeous, and the dresses sexy. Why would anyone want to miss on that? :)

Although Virgen de Guadelupe is supposed to be a religious festival, the only reference to religion happened before the first procession when the locals walked down the streets with a framed image of Santa Maria.

Granted, I haven’t been to the Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Purists will find Carnival Rio more exuberant in every possible way. Also, the festival in Sucre started as a religious procession and has metamorphosed into a carnival over the years. The Brazilian success story has surely something to do with this.

But for now Sucre has given me the best party of the year.