Rio has its Christ, now Oruro has a Virgin

Last night we had our yearly fix of dance, Bolivian style at Friend’s of Bolivia’s carnival night in London. I was not disappointed, there was a good folkloric band, two dance groups and a disco.

As with many Catholic countries, Bolivia celebrates carnival and its does it in great style (read Gemma Bowes’ Guardian article on her visit).

Bolivia’s biggest carnival is held in the small mining town of Oruro, which comes to life once a year when more than 30,000 people dance in procession through the streets. Dancers in fantastically elaborate costumes are accompanied by brass bands and perform in front of Bolivians and the odd foreign visitor to honour the Virgin of el Socavon. (La Virgen Morena).

This year to kick of the Carnival celebrations President Evo Morales, himself a musician in the carnival in his youth, was part of the inauguration of the newly erected Virgen of Sovacon statue. It stands 45 metres high, seven metres higher than Rio’s famous Christ the Redeemer statue and just a bit shorter than New York’s Statue of Liberty.

It certainly adds something new to the place, I can’t wait to get back home to see it. If you want to see for yourself, HighLives can help arrange a fantastic stay at next year’s Oruro carnival, or indeed a visit at any time of year.

Bolivia Carnival, Oruro 2013

As a child I would always look forward to February, the Carnival season. It was really good fun, a whole week of celebrations, dance, music, and good fortune blessing. We Bolivians keep our traditions intact and one thing the country excels in is organising festivals and a good party.
Every year the mining town of Oruro fills with partygoers and becomes the biggest Carnival. Visit our website to find out how you could be part of this celebration, see here.
Gemma Bowes, travel editor of The Guardian, visited Bolivia last February, here is an article Gemma wrote on the Carnival in Bolivia.

Bolivia carnival: wet and wild

With water fights, costumed parades, dancing girls and blood rituals, Bolivians really know how to celebrate carnival in style.

"While these small celebrations add a joyful dimension to South American travel at this time of year, we would have been mad to miss one of the continent's biggest carnival parades, El Carnaval de Oruro, a week-long Rio-style procession of dozens of dancing troupes from all over Bolivia who gather in an isolated mining town on the southern Altiplano. Performing in fantastic costumes and huge masks, they continue for several sleepless days and nights, fuelled by strong spirits and chicha, a thick bubbly slop made from fermented corn".
To read the article in full see here or visit The Guardian website.