When I booked our trip to Ecuador for the second week of August last year, I knew we would be there for Primer Grito de Independencia, an important holiday when Ecuadorians celebrate their country’s independence. (I’m no historian, but an approximate U.S. analog for this event might be the Batte of Lexington & Concord that kicked off the Revolutionary War. It was a key milestone on the path to national independence but wasn’t yet the point where true independence was achieved.)
I certainly hoped we would stumble into some interesting experiences by virtue of being in the right place at the right time, but I had no way of knowing just how cool and unique of an event we were in for.
During the day of August 9th an energy and vibe of anticipation was palpable throughout Old Town – everyone was getting ready for the evening’s festivities. Every plaza, from the big (Plaza de la Indpendencia, Plaza de San Blas, Plaza de San Francisco, Plaza de Santo Domingo) to the small (Plaza Sebastian de Benalcàzar – the one right outside our apartment) had something going on – Music, street performers, food and artists. These ranged from the formal, official and impressive …
… to the very much unofficial, impromptu and charming.
Our night kicked off by hearing the band playing in Plaza Sebastian de Benalcàzar, which is maybe 100 yards up the street.
The place we rented had a great open loft layout and a wall of French door windows, which were all open. As the sounds of music followed by the crackle and smoke of fireworks filled the apartment, the sensation was almost of being suspended in the air floating along on the city’s energy. Just an incredibly unique and exhilarating experience to be so close to and immersed in this celebration.
With that inspiration to get out into the thick of the action, we headed into the streets and literally let the flow carry us.
The entire scene was a wave of festivity spectacularly set: thousands of people – proud families, blissful couples, wandering travelers – filling the streets as the magnificent colonial architecture was floodlit to amazing effect and the illuminated hills that roll out from the city provided a stunning backdrop to it all.
Everywhere you turned there were street performers entertaining adults and mesmerizing children. These guys on stilts got a lot of my attention.
As we wound our way back to the apartment, we started thinking about food, not unlike the folks we saw taking a break to grab sausages from street carts.
We weren’t quite brave enough for that, but we found a nice little family run place and sat down for a couple of empanadas. I didn’t get a shot of it until the next day – not sure why. Perhaps it was camera fatigue after taking a few hundred pictures already that night. But this is a look at the place from the next day.
All in all it was a very cool way to spend our last night in Quito. If you are considering a trip there in the summer and can arrange your schedule to be there for Velada Libertaria, I would highly recommend it. And I am personally keeping Quito in the consideration set for 2009’s summer vacation – the bicentennial celebration of Primer Grito de Independencia should be something special.
*****
Some additional Quito / Ecuador resources and links:
- El Comercio a web site with news and information about Quito, Ecuador, Latin America and beyond. Also the source behind this video vignette from Velada Libertaria 2007 that I found YouTube:
- And a couple of books I found helpful during my trip to Ecuador:
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