Monday, January 24, 2011

Feria de Alasita

The Fair of Alasita is actually a long three week celebration in La Paz that just started today. In 1781, a man by the name of Tupac Katari, led an indigenous army of 40,000 in rebellion against the Spanish empire. He laid siege to the city of La Paz for 184 days, but was eventually defeated by an army sent from Buenos Aires. When the siege broke, the governor of La Paz declared a celebration to honor the local deity, Equeco, god of abundance and fertility.

Equeco or Ekeko
Now, 230 years later, Tupac Katari is considered a hero of the indigenous people and the fair looks a bit different. Street vendors come out in hordes selling miniatures of everything you could possibly want. Equeco has been worshiped by people here for centuries, long before any Spanish came to the New World. Possibly originating with the Tiwanaku culture. Today, people believe that if you give Equeco miniatures of your wishes, these things will come back to you in reality.

Down the street, in Plaza Espana, the vendors were out in full force selling everything you could possibly wish for this year. Almost everyone had miniature money including Bolivianos, US Dollars and Euros. Of course, there were houses, cars, trucks and buses. You could even get mini house deeds, university degrees, vehicle titles, passports, marriage licenses and if you you're tired of that, divorce documents. If you want a new love in your life though, you buy little hens and roosters to offer Equeco.

Feria de Alasita is mainly celebrated in La Paz, but other cities around Bolivia have picked it up throughout the later half of the twentieth century. There are also minor celebrations in cities around the world that have significant populations of Bolivians. Most notable of these are Buenos Aires, Argentina and Stockholm, Sweden. However, the fair is more about being during the summer, than at a certain date and so the Stockholm celebration takes place during July and August.

Everything from University diplomas to divorce papers.


Blessing the miniatures over coals.

At a fair in the states you might pay five dollars for a single corn dog. Here I got two pieces of cake, two cookies and a doughnut type thing for $0.85.

This is actually a Chinese symbol prosperity called Chan Chu.

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