Every January 6, Cuenca celebrates the Day of the Innocents with a parade that combines satire, political and social commentary.  It is variously called the Fools Parade, Inocentes Parade, or Masquerades Parade. This was originally a religious event commemorating King Herod’s death sentence for all new-born boys after the birth of Christ, though Cuenca’s version has evolved into a fun-filled costume party combining April Fool’s Day, Carnaval, and Halloween, with some politics thrown into the mix.

Our first time seeing this parade was in 2013, when we found it definitely unique among the festivities we had seen previously. 2014 followed with a large number of men dressed in drag.  2015 saw a definite subdued political satire, as President Correa had just put through a law making it illegal to make fun of political leaders, and most groups were clearly worried about crossing that line.

The local newspaper reported that there were three times as many entrants in the contest as in past years. However we only captured the first hour of the festivities starting at 6:00 PM, as the party continued well into the night with many arriving after 8:30 PM. This year, the University of Cuenca won the Mascaradas 2017 contest prize of $4,000. The $3,000 second prize was awarded to the University of Azuay for their skit  that included zombies dancing to Michael Jackson’s song, Thriller, making fun of the obsessive use of electronic devices and social networks.

Every year there are groups that come through where we can recognize the parody… and then there are numerous ones where we just shrug our shoulders and wonder what the heck they are referring to.  One repeating theme this year was Ruliman.  Who is Ruliman, you ask?  hmmm… I am still asking that too… ☺  I have since read several articles that talk about the Ecuadorian government creating a solidarity hero called Solimán.  Ruliman is a character from a local voice impersonator named Santiago Illescas. The crowd cheered every time a float or group came by with the Ruliman theme, but I still don’t understand why…

There were numerous groups led by floats or banners.  Sometimes we knew what they meant.  For example, the upper left is complaining about the Tranvia light rail project in Cuenca that is running more than a year late and well over budget, partly due to political maneuvering and mismanagement. Lower right says “Water is love and parties. Gold is death and the demon.”  This one is objecting to massive gold mines that have recently been opened in the Amazon.  Upper right is telling people to “never forget” Cuenca traditions.  Another skit with caskets reminded everyone of the many famous people who passed away the past year.

Many groups traveled in costumes, all matching a single theme.

Superheroes were in plentiful supply.

Masks and elaborate face paint was common, and many were quite well done.

As with all large parades like this, the police and Red Cross were on hand as needed.  I have never seen any disturbances at any of these events.

The audience is often as interesting as the parade itself, and tonight was no exception.

Just a last few more images that I particularly liked tonight, as the Inocents enjoyed their party.

Peter Dudar, a gringo expat actively involved with various Ecuadorean charitable causes, led the parade as one of the Three Kings

The Christmas Eve el Pase del Niño (the passing of the child) parade is claimed by its organizers to be the largest in all of Latin America. This year, at least 100,000 people lined the streets to watch the celebration with a perfect mix of sun and clouds, compared to the heat in past years.  This is our fifth year watching the celebration (prior years can be seen here — 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 part 1, and 2015 part 2).  The parades all follow the same schedule(with varying routes), with the transfer of the child from Iglesia El Carmen de la Asunción (the flower market) around 9:00 AM to Iglesia San Sebastien around 10:00 AM, when the parade officially starts. Then, around 4:00 PM following the dancers, horseback riders, marching bands, floats with boom boxes, the doll child is then escorted by soldiers and the bishop along Calle Simón Bolivar to Iglesia San Blas. This year, there were some expat entries, as all Ecuadoreans are represented in this celebration. The religious celebration is a 3-month long event, with numerous events at local schools, churches, and neighborhoods.

As always, we took a zillion photographs this year, so here is a flavor of how the day progressed:

The “traveling child” (upper left / bottom right) is the centerpiece of the parade, and numerous Baby Jesus dolls are carried throughout the parade.

Many more women than men participate in the annual parade.

Many women marched along the parade route while carrying their babies.

The parade shows off the beautiful children of Ecuador.

Boys were often dressed as kings, shepherds or vaqueros, and painted mustaches were common.

Traditional masks appear regularly throughout the parade.

This year it seems that more kids were dressed as Santa Claus.

Chickens, cuy and pigs are often displayed. This year there was a goose in the mix too (top center).

The people watching the parade are often as interesting as the parade itself.

Police and military take part in the parade, and also help maintain order.

The local Catholic Bishop always rides with the Niño Viajero at the end of the parade.  (There were two bishops on the float this year, the old and the new.)

The rain held off this year until shortly after the parade ended, then the sky opened up and helped us break the recent drought.

Last night was the Festival of Lights (Festival de Luces) at Santo Domingo Plaza in Cuenca.  This is an annual event, honoring Our Lady of the Rosary.  However, in past years, we always heard about it after the event. This was the first year we learned about the event in time to attend.

The schedule showed that the candles would start to be placed at 6PM.  Since we know that almost all Ecuadorian events start late, I wandered over a few minutes past 6 — only to discover that the setting up was already well under way, with students already 3 blocks from the church lining them up along the roadways.  To my further surprise, every part of the schedule was almost exactly on time.

A mass was given at 7:00 PM, and doors opened about 6:30.  I was able to enter and see the interior of the Santo Domingo church (above right column).  I tried to also find stairs to the upper floors for an aerial view of the lights, but was stopped by a nun who told me “Está prohibido.”

People started lighting the candles at 6:30 sharp.  As the sun set and it became darker, many  people  with smiles on their faces had their photos taken among the candles.