Christmas Light-Up in San Gil

There is one event I forgot to mention: the Christmas Light-Up here in town on Sunday. The plaza, three blocks from here, is a lively place at any time during the day and, at least on the weekend, at night as well, but Sunday was a special day. We were sitting in the courtyard of our hostal in the early evening after our visit to Barichara when a couple of loud bangs, very close by, startled us. For a moment I thought of shots and unrest, but then someone said: fireworks! Yes, we could see them looking up from where we sat, but went out to the street for a better view and enjoyed a great spectacle that lasted maybe ten minutes. The sound of music – more and louder than usual – drifted over from the plaza: this, we were told, was the start of the Christmas season here and was celebrated in a big way. A bit later in the evening we headed over to the place of the action and were stunned: the plaza had been transformed to a wonderland sparkling with lights in all shapes and colours, Santa, ribbons, and bells taking their place beside parrots and hummingbirds. A huge crowd was assembled, rows of plastic chairs on the sidewalk faced a stage where a youth band was playing Latin American dance music. columns of smoke rising from street food stands with skewers of carne, pechuga and salchipapa were caught in light beams moving back and forth behind the stage – a wonderfully celebratory scene. We stood for a while, listening to the band, and soon were offered seats by a couple of people who were leaving. The youth band finished, and a 'Christmas' production was staged by students of the local theatre school, with a lot of quite acrobatic elements, the grand finale featuring torch jugglers and fire-eaters. We had a great time, just like the rest of the crowd: how lucky we were to be here just now! 

I had a short video with music, but I've been unable to make it work here, so this photo, taken tonight, will have to do.