The rituals of fire and music
By Gustavo Morejon
3 Aug 2009
Cuenca is a city where you can see a very strange mix of the Inca, Caniari and Spanish cultures. Every year, the Inter American Center of Popular Arts (CIDAP), organizes a festivity in which the popular artistic expressions are shown in a very colorful scenario.
The festivity is a mix of the religious expressions and the traditional Inca - Caniari habits. When the Spanish people conquered South America, they imposed the catholic religion to the local people which years after fused their traditional believes with the catholic religion.
The result can be seen in this celebrations where traditional characters such as the Curiquinga, are mixed with the catholic figures in a colorful festivity where music and fire are protagonists.
The "Castle" is a tower built with bamboo and colorful papers, and filled with fireworks which explode as the castle is burnt. Another interesting character is the "Crazy cow" which runs chasing the people around. This is a bamboo made cow which is carried by local people as it burns and explodes. Fireworks, music and strange rituals makes this celebration a colorful expression of the local culture.
