La Mama Negra or (An Incredibly Inappropriate and Not Politically Correct Ecuadorian Festival)

Last Saturday Javier and I shared a bus with some friends to Latacunga for La Mama Negra festival and parade.  The origins and purpose of the festival are somewhat elusive, but I was able to track down two English blogs that describe the festival here and here. In short it combines some elements of Christianity with folklore about the city being saved from a volcanic eruption by a black slave woman.  And it results in a day long parade of dancers, bands, cross-dressers, spitters (I'll explain in a bit) and culminates when the mayor of Latacunga arrives in full blackface and feminine attire.  It sounds crazy and that's exactly what it was....kind of crazy.  We had planned on it being a bit out of control after most of the teachers who had attended last year declined the invitation of a second visit with comments like, 'I think it's a once in a lifetime' or 'seeing it once was enough...'  

With that in mind, I did not bring my camera, for fear of losing it or having it stolen.  That said, I did bring my phone and attempted to capture the colorful debauchery of the day.  I hope my pictures are worth a 1000 words (because I think it might take that many to really capture the scene and experience of the day....).

Park in the center of Latacunga

It's really not a tourist town, but was still very beautiful.  It meant that we got a lot of notice and attention at the parade as clear foreigners.

These are guaguas de pan.  They are little bread babies usually filled with cheese, jam or chocolate.  They are used primarily in the celebration of the Day of the Dead, but were still out and extravagantly dressed in Latacunga.

This is Galo (left) our regular school bus driver and chaperone for the day.  He is from Latacunga and offered to drive us to the festival.  Then there is Ben (right), the only returning festival attendant of our group, who is also very blond.

If I haven't mentioned it, I should...we were warned that during the parade, many performers would be carrying bottles of liquor that they would 'share' with audience members as they walked by.  This is us purchasing some fried street food in preparation for our liquid intake for the day.

Here is our little group!  Galo and Javier negotiated a bargain price of $3.50 to have some reserved seats 1) up on some risers for better viewing and 2) under a tarp which meant shade, which is very important when spending a full day out in the Ecuadorian sun.

Unlike parades I've witnessed in other countries, this one included mobs of people standing on and sometimes in the street so that the role of performer and spectator where constantly blending.  This is a picture of the policing attempting to clear the street before the start of the day....good luck guys.

Here is a group of men, all in panchos, parading down street.  You can also see the folks on the roof across the street that purchased heightened seating as well.

Here was my first treasure of the festival.  The performers were throwing out candy, cookies, and fruit into the crowd.  It's also tradition to pass out ornaments of the five main characters of the legend: the Moorish King, the Angel of the Star, the Sergeant, the Captain of the Guard and the Mama Negra. 

Javier did a great job and was able to snag TWO ornaments for our Christmas tree: Mama Negra (the one I really wanted) and the Moorish King (we think).

Have I mentioned yet that almost ALL of the men are dressed in drag?  Again, this was never really explained to us, but we think relates back to the virgin that saved the town from the volcano?

In addition to dancers, bands and the men in drag, it's common to see these full-sized, gutted pigs being paraded down the street.  Javier spoke to a man who explained that the men who carry each pig on their back actually volunteer and count it as penance for them and their family for the year.  We guessed each pigs weighed about 300 pounds. 

Here is one of the main characters; we think the Angel of the Star (but who really knows.)

While we spent a lot of time in the safety comfort of our shady spot on the bleachers, we also wanted to have a bit of the street experience too.  As I said, the line between spectator and performer was constantly blurred as in this photo when Javier was pulled into a dance group by this woman.

In addition to the 300 pound pig, there were chickens, guinea pigs (or cuy, a traditional Ecuadorian cuisine), cigarette cartons and bottles of liquor attached to each pig.  This one was also decked out in Ecuador's flag.  (We've been told that after being out in the sun all day, these animals will be cooked the following day for a feast shared by the entire city).

Here we are with a pig carrier.  They usually had attendants giving them water and carrying a stand that they would rest the pig on for a break throughout the parade. 

Granted the parade did start at 10 and lasted until 3-ish, but I was still surprised at how often performers stopped for pictures, to grab drinks or get the audience involved in the show.

As I said, Latacunga doesn't see a lot of tourists and Ben's blond hair makes him particularly obvious so he got a lot of attention throughout the day; both with the performs and in this case the media.

Lots of beautiful and colorful costumes seen throughout the day!

Here is another character (I think the Sergeant or Captain?).  It seems like they typically ride horses to keep themselves a bit above the chaos occurring in the street. 

Here is the other part of the festival that I haven't mentioned....throughout the parade and day these folks dressed in all white would pull members of the audience into the street to be blessed.  Here are Ben and Javier being blessed. 

The blessing is conducted through a series of rituals: the costumed blessers dance a little circle around those being blessed.

As they circle, they rub antlers (I don't know why?) and branches of eucalyptus all over the person being blessed.  Sounds reasonable (sort of).

But the they also have a member in charge of taking a mouthful of water (or something alcoholic, like aguardiente) and spitting it all over those that are in the middle of the circle.  I don't know where the spitting comes in, or what it does, but it was obviously an important part of the day.  Then the blessers often offer the recently blessed a sip of whatever alcohol they are carrying and you tip them with a coin (whatever you have) from your pocket.

We've been told that staying away from street food improves our chances of avoiding illness and parasites, but it seemed to be the best option at Mama Negra so we took a chance and had some chugchucaras, and mashed potatoes.  Essentially it includes pork three different ways, corn 2 different ways, and a plantain and mote (boiled hominy). It was delicious. 

And here is the big finale: the Mama Negra "herself."

She comes riding down the street, holding her baby dolls and squirting milk into the crowd.  (Remember this is actually a man, usually the mayor of Latacunga).  While this signified the end of the parade, it didn't necessarily signify the end of the party from what we could see...

Overall, we really enjoyed the experience.  It was certainly crazy and included many sights I had never seen before, but we never felt unsafe.  I think having seats on the bleachers also helped a lot because we could take ourselves out of the craziness and participation on the street.  If you are ever in Ecuador, I'd agree that it is definitely worth a visit to Latacunga for La Mama Negra, but I may also agree that it is a once in a lifetime experience.  We were both spit on blessed and caught our Mama Negra ornaments, so it seems our participation was a success!