Niños Viajero statue is center of attention
Every Christmas Eve, Cuenca puts on a massive parade that goes all day, from 8AM till around 6PM, and consists of some 60,000 participants (in a city of only 400,000 residents!). We first saw this last year, and you can read that post and see those photographs here.
The parade is officially called the “Pase del Niño Viajero” parade, which translates as “passing of the traveling child.” It celebrates a small statue of Jesus that was taken to Rome and blessed by the pope in the 1960’s. This statue overlooks the parade during the day, and then at is brought along the parade route at the end of the day.
Between the two of us, we shot almost 2,000 photographs today. It was hard to distill a parade this massive into a rational number of images, but here is an attempt to bring the feel of the event to you.
Kids were a key part of the parade, and the girls always take cute photos
Boys certainly enjoy their day in the parade too
These women prove you are never too old to enjoy a parade!
Ecuadorian men are not afraid to dress up and parade either
Women often travel in groups together in the parade
Parade dancing is mostly done by women
Santa was everywhere, as was the occasional clown
Parents were often found with the younger kids, and they enjoyed the day too
Most walked, some rode horses, and these people rode bicycles
Music was everywhere
Many groups were led by a sign identifying them or the parade itself
Many groups had their own baby Jesus statues too
A fire truck stood by to let people cool off, since it was such a warm day
Pig, chicken and cuy (guinea pig) were available on sidewalk stands
The balconies along the parade route were packed with watchers
While Evelyn kept her camera clicking in amongst the marchers
We attended a morning party before the parade, and another in the afternoon when the parade was done
As soon as the last marcher was done, the city cleanup crew made the area spotless again
Rooftop views of the neighboring churches from our afternoon party’s home