Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Sunday, November 2, 2014 Fiesta Time

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Sunday, November 2, 2014

What is more fun than a barrel of monkeys?? Maybe it is an Ecuadorian Fiesta with families, a greased pole, and prizes out of reach.... Today is part of the Fiesta weekend for Cuenca's Independence. I had read that there were going to be many events happening at the Ciudadela Tomebamba which is within easy walking distance.

They had elimination soccer matches that were very entertaining, food tents and a few clothing and toy sales tents. I saw one other gringo pass through for about 15 minutes but, other than that, I was again the only white face in the crowd for the whole afternoon and evening.

Then the real fun began when they gathered folks around this greased "maypole" and challenged groups to climb up to retrieve the food and prizes hanging from the top. There is a statue of this on Calle La Condamine, and I had been told that this is a common family gathering afternoon's entertainment but, until now, I had never seen this happen. Today was the day, as groups tried to work together to get someone to reach about 15 feet up to grab the prizes. With no grip on the pole, they basically have to make a pyramid of people, standing on each other to reach that height.

A person has to feel sorry for the poor sod on the bottom holding up all this weight for many long minutes. Many groups collapse before attaining the top. One family was successful with many attempts and so was a group of soccer players. The expressions of the poor folks underneath, with feet on their shoulders, ears, heads, etc were priceless.

Then I met a fellow named Freddy and we hung around for a bit until he wanted to drag me away somewhere else and we parted company. I hung around with one of the soccer groups after that since I had spent most of the day in their vicinity.

Then this very colourful dance group came with flowing capes and such. It began with this young girl who was maybe 10-years-old and, boy-oh-boy, did she ever put on a polished show well beyond her young age.

I was shooting on the long side of the 'floor' then one of the choreographers came to me specifically and told me to shoot from the end because the performers would mostly face that way. I was thankful for that and you will see by the photos that they were indeed aware of my presence. It wasn't a big group but the wide and graceful costumes made the group seem larger. It really was a wonderful show.

Pardon the quality of the photos, taken over a long distance, at night, with only existing lighting and a poor camera flash to work with. I have done my best to restore them for you.

All day there were roadies setting up a stage and sound system for a band that was to start at 8pm (Ecuador Time = 9pm). It was interesting how they hoist speakers into a tower with a block and tackle. The choreographed band was OK and we were all enjoying ourselves until the local Gestapo came by and started confiscating everyone's booze. There is a new ordinance about booze in public places and for the first month they are just confiscating the booze. Next month that will be accompanied with heavy fines. Since the jackboots did this during the biggest festival of the year I expect that the Government is going to get a lot of backlash.

Anyway, shortly after that I decided to go home since nobody was dancing.....

Hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al

A nice venue for the celebration at Ciudadela Tomebamba

Hoisting up speakers with block & tackle

Several roadies working to assemble the stage and sound system

One of the soccer teams that I hung out with later

This is the statue that always attracted me on Calle La Condamine, with the family pitching in, feet on the heads, pants being pulled down, great expressions, and the prizes hanging from the top. Great way to exhaust an afternoon!