Fiestas de Quito: Chiva!

Every year the city of Quito celebrates its founding through the "Fiestas de Quito". These fiestas last from the 24th of November until the 6th of December!

Ecuadorians from other parts of the country join their Quiteño brethren and visit the city during this time, and visitors from all over the world partake as well. Typical festivities include bull fighting, parties in the streets, at least one day of vacation from school or work for the actual anniversary date (December 6th, if not several days), Chivas (I will soon explain this concept!), concerts, local music, and general celebrations. I happened to be out of town for the majority of the Fiestas (I was in both Tosagua and Santo Domingo with Global Village teams), however I did get to try out one of the traditions.....

Chivas are open-air passenger trucks with benches and a roof which holds a band. Businesses, groups of friends, organizations, etc. rent these vehicles out (complete with band, driver, and alcohol) for a few hour Quito tour including the historic district and part of the new town. Chivas are particularly popular during the Quiteño Fiestas... However, they can be rented at other times during the year and are also found in Guayaquil (the largest Ecuadorian City). Here is a picture of the chiva on which I was a passenger... I appologise for the very bad quality (see below for a back-view)! Other signiture chiva-traditions are the plastic whistles with which all the passengers "keep time" with the band- ---ha.

The passengers are often no concentrated in the seats, but rather on the back of the truck and on top... with the band! The band plays a short selection of local "songs of the pueblo¨ ... over and over again and you can hear strains of the music during all hours of the day through parts of the city during those ten days!

During part of the city tour, the chiva stops at a park so that all the passengers can get out and dance to the music without the constraints of the truck. Here I am (above) with the band during one of their breaks. This particular band had chiva gigs for at least 8 of the 10 nights of "Fiestas."