This week starts the annual Corpus Christi festival, which always starts 60 days after Easter. Though it is celebrated throughout Latin America, it is one of the largest parties in Cuenca, behind only the Paseo del Nino parade on Christmas Eve. There are fireworks every night for at least a week, and this time it is expected to last 10 days. A different organization or family funds the fireworks each night, and “castles” are always part of the show.
These castles are bamboo frameworks on which various fireworks sparklers, pinwheels, whistlers, and rockets are attached. The builders (a local company specializing in fireworks) put together the contraption in about an hour (bottom-center), while the firemen stand by and supervise (top-center) to assure no neighboring buildings are burned down, as happened in 2013 when errant fireworks burned down two church structures near the square.
When all is ready, two members of the crew approach the tower with flares, and ignite the base of the castle… then run fast (center) as the fuses burn to launch their Rube Goldberg machine into motion! This time the sparks were burning “hot”, and two young men were brushing off some burning embers from Evelyn’s clothes. A quick warning to be sure to wear a baseball cap, and cotton clothing. In the past few years, you could stand beneath and let the cold sparks fall on you, but something was different this time, and when the sparks hit, they hurt!
The fireworks always start with pinwheels on the bottom level. They then advance to streamers, or sparklers, or other displays as they work themselves up the bamboo castle frame. At the top, many have whistlers that caused all the kids around us to cover their ears, as they shrieked for joy. A couple of the castles then had aerial fireworks shoot out of the tops.
This entire event occurs within a few feet of the New Cathedral in Parque Calderon, in the center of Old Town Cuenca (about 4 blocks from where we live). The first night of celebration this year included waterfall fireworks on the face of the new cathedral (upper-right). Other fireworks were aimed into the sky just a few feet from the church (left and bottom-right).
The park was crammed with audience watching the show. Last night there were four separate castles, each fired off at roughly half hour intervals, and last about 5 to 10 minutes each. Between the actual fires, it was common to see small kids run out to the towers for a closer look (center-right), while others were kept in check by riding their parent’s shoulders (lower-left and upper-left). At the end of the 3rd castle, it started raining and people ducked underneath building cover, where the band was playing. The last castle was fired a bit early so people could get home before being drenched from the rain.
Through it all, there were plenty of vendors, especially those selling sweets. The newspaper said there were 120 vendors in the area, so this is only a small sampling of the mimes (upper left), food (upper-center and lower-left), clowns (lower-right), bubble wands (center-right), balloon animals (center), and even a video podcaster (left-center).
The third night of Corpus Christi, we decided to stay home and watch the fireworks from our living room window. I just stuck my camera on the window sill, and captured dozens of images like this one.
Life in Cuenca seems like an unending celebration for some aspect of daily life! Even when a major event like Corpus Christi is not happening, there is usually something going on. It is a rare week when we cannot see fireworks from at least some of our windows at home.