Events, Festivals and Holidays in Bolivia
Holidays, fiestas and festivals, whether religious or secular, hold a favored place in Bolivian culture.
Holidays, fiestas and celebrations by date and location.
In Bolivia, Oruro, Santa Cruz, Tarija and La Paz hold carnavals but the carnaval in Oruro,is the most famous. It takes place for the eight days preceeding Ash Wednesday. Unlike carnaval in Brazil where the escolas de samba choose a new theme each year, carnaval in Oruro always begins with the diablada or devil dance. The diablada is a centuries-old ritual surviving unchanged from colonial days.
The celebrations in Peru and Bolivia are centered around Lake Titicaca, in Puno and the small village of Copacabana. In Bolivia, the Virgen is also known as the Dark Virgin of the Lake, and the Patroness Of Bolivia. She is revered for a series of miracles, recounted in Nuestra Seņora de Copacabana and has another festival on August 5.
Carnaval events in La Paz, Oruro, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, Bolivia.
The merging of pre-Columbian religions and the Roman Catholic faith created a number of religious observations, including the Fiesta del Gran Poder celebrated primarily in La Paz, Bolivia. The event began in the late 1930's with a small number of dancers and is today a huge event.
