In Iquique
La Tirana festival expected to attract 250,000 to northern Chile
The largest religious celebration in the country takes place in the tiny town of the same name from July 11-18, 2011.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The La Tirana festival includes fireworks, music and dancing. (Photo: vladimir prieto/Flickr)
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For one week each year, hundreds of demons descend upon the tiny town of La Tirana only to be driven away by music, dance, the archangel Michael, and the assembled forces of good. This is the religious festival of La Tirana, the largest of its kind in Chile, and this year it is expected to draw more visitors than ever before.
During the course of this year’s celebrations, which will run from July 11-18, the nearby city of Iquique expects to see 250,000 visitors, a 15 percent increase from the same period last year. Though Iquique’s popularity as a winter destination has steadily increased over the years thanks to its warm climate and Pacific beaches, the number of people passing through during this week in July is due primarily to the city’s proximity to La Tirana, less than 45 miles (72 km) to the southeast.
Though ostensibly a Catholic celebration in the name of the Virgen del Carmen – the national patron saint – the celebrations that take place for a week surrounding July 16 each year have a much longer history. The music, masks and costumes used by the 200 groups of dancers that arrive in the town each year can be traced back to the ceremonies of indigenous Andean peoples in their worship of Pachamama, the Mother Earth.
Today, most of the visitors attracted to town for the festival come from within Chile, though foreign tourists – primarily from the neighboring countries of Peru, Bolivia and Argentina – have begun to arrive in increasing numbers. According to the president of the Iquique Chamber of Tourism, Gloria Delucchi, 70 percent of visitors will come from within Chile, while some 30 percent will arrive from outside.
“Without a doubt, tourism associated with the La Tirana festival is growing more and more,” Delucchia told La Tercera. “Hundreds of the visitors that will arrive in the area during this period…are coming just to learn about the celebration, with its colors, music and the devotion of the faithful.”