Feeling Festive?

Feeling Festive?

Galápagos Days, celebrating the islands' statehood, is held during the second week of February. It features parades and all-out revelry throughout the islands. During Carnaval Ecuadorans douse one another with buckets of water, water balloons, and squirt guns. Carnaval is most exuberant in the Cotopaxi Province -- local dances and fairs are held in Saquisilí, Pujilí, Latacunga, and Salcedo.

Corpus Christi is observed in many mountain towns with fireworks displays. La Fiesta de San Juan enlivens highland towns, especially around Otavalo, on June 24. Otavalo also comes to life during La Fiesta de Yamor, a harvest festival held the first two weeks in September.

In Latacunga, September 24 is the Fiesta de la Mamá Negra, which honors Our Lady of Mercy with lively processions featuring costumed dancers. The Fiestas de Quito, during the first week of December, brings art exhibitions and outdoor concerts. Guayaquil holds similar festivities in early October, Cuenca in early November.