Nine weeks after Easter Sunday the Catholic festival of Corpus Cristi (literally translated to Body of Christ) begins. The festival was established by the Catholic Church to celebrate the sacrament of communion, based on Jesus’ sharing of wine and bread with his disciples during the last supper. But the festival as currently celebrated seems to have a pretty loose tie with its origins. Yes, there were a few religious processions and masses related to the celebration, which lasts a week. But the emphasis here seems to be on sweets, fireworks, and other diversions. Some say that the festival has merged with pre-catholic celebrations related to the summer solstice which happens in the same month. We ventured downtown on the next to last night of the festival to check it out.
The whole main square (Parque Calderon) of Cuenca is lined with stands selling traditional sweets, and a lot of non-traditional sweets. We asked a vendor which were the most traditional, and sampled some fruit-based sugary concoctions, coconut candy, and quesadillas which in this manifestation are sweet turnovers filled with a cheese. All 10 zillion stands seem to offer pretty much the same fare. Everything is displayed open air. We didn’t see any flies buzzing around, but there were a fair number of bees taking advantage of the offerings, so we tried to dig the sweets we purchased out from lower layers. Several vendors had TVs set up. They were watching the news when we saw them, but I’m guessing they may have had something to do with the Copa Americana soccer tournament going on in Chile.
The whole main square (Parque Calderon) of Cuenca is lined with stands selling traditional sweets, and a lot of non-traditional sweets. We asked a vendor which were the most traditional, and sampled some fruit-based sugary concoctions, coconut candy, and quesadillas which in this manifestation are sweet turnovers filled with a cheese. All 10 zillion stands seem to offer pretty much the same fare. Everything is displayed open air. We didn’t see any flies buzzing around, but there were a fair number of bees taking advantage of the offerings, so we tried to dig the sweets we purchased out from lower layers. Several vendors had TVs set up. They were watching the news when we saw them, but I’m guessing they may have had something to do with the Copa Americana soccer tournament going on in Chile.
After checking out the sweets we found a cluster of more typical food vendors (meat skewers, the ever present salchipapas, etc.) and game stands that had been set up for the festival. Gabe was very drawn to the games of chance that involved spinning wheels and the lure of doubling or tripling whatever small change one puts on the game board. We found it ironic that a religious festival was his (albeit relatively mild) introduction to gambling. The kids were equally interested in the big target board and dart gun game. We gave in to that one since it seemed like they had an actual chance of winning something. So instead of having their first try at gambling they had their first try at shooting a weapon (again, a relatively low key one). Gabe started out trying to win the $20 bill on the game board but by his third try of three switched targets, and both kids were happy with the candy they won.
The highlight of the night for me were the fireworks. Over the course of the week different organizations and municipalities in the area donate firework towers to be lit. Some nights there are a few, and others many. These towers wouldn’t be allowed in liability-focused US, but they are really fun to watch, especially because one can get pretty close. First the lower level burns, then the next, then the next, until the dramatic explosion of the top whirling level. I didn’t get very good pictures of the fireworks, but here is a picture of the tower that bursts into fireworks on three levels and then shoots fireworks to the sky from the last level. Trust me, it was exciting. And loud.
An interesting aspect of the festival that I didn’t expect to see were the protests. Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, had announced some new taxes on inheritances just before the festival started, which sparked criticism and protests. Protestors take advantage of the festivals to draw attention to their message, and the ruling party responds with counter protests. So when we first walked up to the main square we found one street chock full protestors. Anti-Correa demonstrators on one side of the street waving the Ecuadoran flag, and pro-government demonstrators on the other side waving flags of the president’s party and other liberal movements. It was interesting to see, and the demonstrators I approached (on the pro side, since that is where we were standing), were happy to pose with their flags.