October...Fiesta of the Virgin.

October is a great month to visit Baños. The month long fiesta in honor of the Virgin of the Holy Waters is a community-wide event. Each of the more than 30 neighborhoods, plus businesses and organizations sign up at the Basilica for their day with one of the statues of the Virgin. As far as I can tell there are at least four. Depending on the plan that is organized by a neighborhood, the residents hire a band, some with 20 or more musicians, that arrives in the morning and starts playing on the street corner. At the appointed hour the band leads the residents of that neighborhood in a procession to the Basilica. There are many flowers and each person has a least one rose. When they reach the Basilica the band plays in front of the church while the group enters to pick up their Virgin for the day. The procession returns to the neighborhood where they have a special place prepared and depending on the budget they may even have a mass preformed by the priest.

At some point, either in the afternoon or evening they parade once more to the Basilica where the Virgin is returned, under a shower of rose petals, to her rightful home and the group returns home for a fiesta with dancing, a little drinking and lots of rockets.


Most of the groups carry the Virgin, however use decorated trucks or trailers. One "Barrios Las Palmas" built a float that was fit for the "Rose Parade" in Pasadena, California. This is serious business and shows the competition between some neighborhoods.  



This scene is repeated every day of October and culminates on the 31st with special events planed for the whole town. I happen to live just two blocks from the church so there are parades and music two or more times a day. Small rockets are set off at all times of the day and night and once you get used to the explosions you can sleep right through them. I do not know the significance of rockets but many are set off by the Fathers at the church. I did find out that you can buy the rockets in the small town of Pelileo which is $0.40 away by bus.

By the way Pelileo is also known as the “Jeans” capital of Ecuador. This seems to be a cottage industry, where besides the small factories many are made in the homes. You can find almost any label. For example, Levi’s 550 will cost you nine or ten dollars at any of the many shops on the cities main street. Some of my friends here in Baños say that they are not the real thing, but the pair I bought look and feel like Levi’s, and that is good enough for me.