festivals in honor of the virgen del cisne

The festivals in honor of the Virgen del Cisne have finally arrived! Being that I work in the community El Cisne here in Arenillas these festivals were anticipated since they ended last August. Starting in February the church members began holding bingos on Saturdays to raise money to fix up their virgin statue and altar. In May the community began renovating their little church. Since July there have been weekly meetings planning the festivities for the two weeks leading up to the main festival on August 14 and 15. El Cisne is a big deal in this part of Ecuador, it would be the equivalent of a Virgen Mary in Italy or Guadalupe in Mexico. There are cars and buses with Virgen del Cisne written across the front, there are hostals and restaurants named in her honor, and a pilgrimage made to El Cisne Loja every year by thousands of people.
Here in Arenillas, we celebrated the virgin in the weekend festivities of El Barrio El Cisne. Ecuadorians may not be the best at calling you back, or showing up to your workshop, or turning in their work on time, but when it comes to festivals they know how to do it. Festivals here can be summed up in few words… incredibly insane.
To set the picture, imagine a couple hundred of people gathered in a small basketball court and along the road leading to the court. Then somewhere in the middle of the crowd there is a giant castle structure called a Castillo and another line hanging between two structures called a waterfall, cascada. The festival starts with a Vaca Loca, a crazy cow.
The first time someone told me to wait for the Vaca during the festivals in the beginning of my service, I was actually looking for the cow, wondering how a big cow was going to make its way into the festival. Then, out of nowhere came a man running through the crowd holding a cardboard cow over his body as it shot off fireworks and sparklers in every direction. Now, at this festival I knew what was coming and strategically selected my spot in the crowd, close enough for a video but right beside a large quantity of beer boxes which I could hide behind if the fireworks start coming at me. The vaca loca really is a crazy scene, a cow up in flames chasing the people while the rest of the audience ducks or hides as sparks come at them. Here is a video of the vaca loca from the recent El Cisne festivals:



After the Vaca Loca, comes the burning of the castle and the waterfall. Basically the castle starts from the bottom up shooting off flames and exploding until it gets to the top, sets off fireworks and triggers the waterfall, which then sets off sparks over the audience. Here´s another video!