On Easter Island or Rapa Nui, the Tapati festival is playful and magical. In the center of the country, Quasimodo is celebrated, in which a Catholic priest brings communion to the sick escorted by horsemen wearing a handkerchief. In Chiloé, the solidarity minga celebrates the construction or relocation of a neighbor's house.
There is no shortage of reasons, each productive sector has one in different places and dates. In addition to the corn festivals, the cherry tree, the chicha or the watermelon festival, there are gastronomic festivals with fruits from the sea and the land, popular games and songs. It is a great diversity of celebrations, profane or religious, around a main celebration: the Fiestas Patrias which, for several days, commemorate the Independence of Chile to the rhythm of the cueca, the national dance, and toasts with red wine, chicha and empanadas.
Hundreds of thousands of people take part in these festivities throughout the country, which are also visited by tourists from all over the world.
Tapati Party of Rapa Nui
With the skin as a support, like the fabric of a painting, the painted bodies are works of art in motion on Easter Island. This is the Tapati festival, which every February elects a queen after sports, artistic and traditional culture competitions. The competing alliances prepare traditional costumes, songs and dances and share stories by orally transmitting their ancestral stories. Physical prowess is put to the test in the haka pei, when the most daring youngsters hurl themselves on banana trunks at high speed down the slope of a hill. Body painting, called takona, is one of the main features of the activity. The islanders compete by painting themselves with natural pigments and original symbols.
Carnival
Also in February, in San Miguel de Azapa, Putre and Socoroma, a ceremony is held to figuratively unearth Ño Carnavalón. A symbol of joy, fertility and fortune, the character and its carnival attract thousands of inhabitants of the highland villages. It is a traditional mestizo festival that is celebrated 40 days before the Catholic Lent, to resurrect the legendary mythical character who augurs happiness all year round. It is, at the same time, a salute to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and Tata Inti (Father Sun, both in native languages), with music, dances and fruits of the area that promise abundance.
Valdivian Week
There are more parties in February. In the south of Chile, in the area of lakes and ancient forests, the founding of the city of Valdivia is celebrated. "The moon is bathing in the Calle-Calle River," says a song to highlight the beauty of the surroundings. To commemorate the milestone, which occurred on February 9, 1552, dozens of boats give life to a river corso, which captivates Valdivians and visitors who come from other corners of Chile and from abroad. The decked-out ships compete for a prize for the most glamorous and are the perfect setting to crown a beauty queen. A fireworks show closes the festival, while on the banks of the Street-Street you can enjoy artistic presentations, gastronomy and beer, recalling the cultural influence of the German immigrants who populated the area since the nineteenth century.
Grape harvest festivals
The prestige of Chilean wine is celebrated in a special way in the central area of the country. Preparations begin with the arrival of summer and the festivities culminate in the last weeks of March. The festival of the city of Curicó is the oldest and begins with a religious ceremony to bless the first musts and give way to the allegorical floats. The harvest also elects its queen, who is weighed in bottles of wine on a roman or scale, while the grape treading competition takes place, with teams competing for 10 minutes on the grapes until they turn them into juice. Clapping and shouts of encouragement accompany the movements, sometimes funny, but always festive.
Festivals of culture
April is the month of festivals organized by the National Council of Culture and the Arts, called Chile+Cultura. They are civic activities throughout the country, bringing culture closer to the people and opening spaces for the dissemination of artists' works. Musicians, poets, painters, filmmakers, actors, and dancers show their work to mass audiences.
Indigenous New Year
The Aymara, Quechua, Atacameño, Diaguita, Kolla, Rapa Nui and Mapuche peoples follow their own ancestral calendar. For them, the new year begins with the winter solstice and is celebrated between June 21 and 24. The harvest in the fields is over, the land must rest, prepare for sowing, and renew its fertility. It is a new cycle of life and indigenous cultures are grateful to nature. There are precedents that indicate that in a large part of the territory indigenous peoples are commemorating this date.
The same is true of the Mapuche people, who perform ceremonies in various regions of the country. Between the 21st and 24th of June, the wetripantu or wiñol tripantu is commemorated, which means new year or turn of the year, respectively. On the same dates, machaq mara (new year) or mara taq'a (division of the year) are celebrated for the Aymara people. The inti raymi, understood as the new year for the Quechua people, and the aringa ora or koro, for the Rapa Nui people, understood as the celebration of the annual cycle of life.
Feast of St. Peter
On June 29, fishermen, divers, shellfish gatherers and seafarers celebrate St. Peter, their patron saint, according to Catholic belief. On board a boat surrounded by other small boats, the figure of the apostle is prayed to intercede for abundant fishing, good health and a benevolent sea. The party is shared by a large number of people from the cities and foreign tourists. The celebration includes a mass accompanied by dancing. Offerings are fruits of the sea and tools of work. The saint presides over his feast at an altar and is paraded through streets and coves. From the sea, the sirens of the boats sound to greet their passing.
Festival of La Tirana
La Tirana is a town in the Tarapacá Region, located in the province of Tamarugal. But as a festival it transcends this place, becoming the most famous in Chile, visited by pilgrims and tourists. The celebration begins on July 11 with the wax mass and ends with the farewell of the dances between July 18 or 19, depending on the number of dances. Every year, dancers and musicians give life to a religious dance that reflects the submission of evil (the devil) and the deadly sins before the virgin, a figure in front of whom they arrive surrendered.
The diablada was incorporated into this festivity in the 40s, imitating the organization of the Bolivian diabladas. The oldest dances are the Chinese dance, the chunchos, the Cuyacas, the Indians and the gypsies. The corps de ballet, with haunting costumes and masks, moves to the rhythm of drums and flutes. The passage is marked by the head of the brotherhood with a whistle, while the activity shows signs of religious syncretism and also greets the Virgen del Carmen. In the town there is a record of celebrations almost from the seventeenth century, but the festival itself takes shape with the Chileanization. The first dances are of Chilean mining origin, along with them are coupled with highland dances and dances of Bolivian or Peruvian origin, which in turn imitate Spanish religious festivals.
Winter Carnivals
The cold winter of the far south is warmed by parties and carnivals. In July, the Snow Festival is held in Puerto Williams, the southernmost city in the world. Locals and tourists, everyone participates. The same month, nearby Punta Arenas organizes the carnival called Invernada en la Patagonia. Allegorical floats and murgas run through the center of the city, several candidates compete for the queen's scepter and fireworks light up the closing night next to the Strait of Magellan.
National Holidays
In Chile, the national day is September 18 and also serves to anticipate spring in the fondas or ramadas, temporary sheds that host equally occasional taverns, which offer typical foods, empanadas, chicha and red wine, where cuecas and cumbias are also danced. Along with the commemoration of the first government junta in 1810, the 19th is also a holiday on the occasion of the glories of the Army, with all the uniformed branches parading in the main cities.
The houses display the national flag, the children fly kites, play spinning top and "bolitas" (marbles), compete in hopscotch (yew on a line) and in the stick. Races are held in the Chilean style, that is, with riders running without saddles, holding on to the mane, and in the croissants there are rodeos.
Feast of the Virgin of Andacollo
Copper, Chile's main basic wealth, is the protagonist of a sample of popular religiosity. Andacollo, a town in the Coquimbo Region, was a settlement of the El Molle culture, of Inca influence, which developed agriculture and mineral exploitation. In the Quechua language, "anta" means copper and "coya" means sovereign. Hence, the Virgin of Andacollo is venerated as queen of copper. Very popular with locals and foreigners, the activity is held every year between December 24 and 26 with dances and commands to the patron saint.
Christmas
Every December 24, Chile commemorates the birth of Jesus with a family dinner, as well as Easter bread – sponge cake with glazed or candied fruit – and cola de mono, a concoction that mixes brandy, milk, sugar, coffee and cinnamon. It is a festival dedicated especially to children, who receive gifts from the Old Pascuero, the name given in the country to Santa Claus or Santa Claus. Those present appear after midnight under a pine tree from which hang lights and decorations that simulate candles and snow, given the European origin of the festival. At the foot of the tree, a nativity scene is usually installed, the representation with figures of the birth of the Catholic messiah.
New Year’s Day
On January 1st, it is welcomed in Chile with spectacular pyrotechnic festivals in different cities of the country. The most traditional fireworks are those in the port of Valparaíso, admired from midnight on December 31 by thousands of people looking for the best viewpoint in the hills of the city. Chileans and foreigners embrace each other, drink champagne, wish each other prosperity and many practice rituals typical of superstition. Some eat lentils, others write down the bad things of the old year on a piece of paper that they then burn, and not a few walk around the neighborhood with suitcases as an omen that they will travel during the year. There is also no shortage of people who wear special clothes for the occasion
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