Chinita's Fair!

We can say that in Maracaibo, Venezuela the christmas begin with the celebration of Chinita's Fair. This is a festivity where the principal objective is celebrate the date when appeared a little piece of wood in the shore of The Lake of Maracaibo, in this little piece of wood an old woman, who was washing her clothes in the water of this lake, could see an image of "Our Lady of The Rosary of Chiquinquira". Since that moment this piece of wood with the image is located in an altar in "La Basilica", this is the church where a lot of people go to ask the virgin and pray. 

This celebration begins on November, but the date when this miracle happened was on November 18 of 1709. In this month, organize a lot of events like parades, the election of "La Reina de La Feria de la Chinita" and others two events, "El Encendido de las Luces" and "La Bajada de la Virgen", for me these are the most important because in both the people go to the streets and we can see the union of a people for an special reason. This year "El Encendido" will be on November 5. And the end of all this, is the begin of christmas in this region of the country.

I like this celebration because is a reason for forget all the problems of the people and the goverment, and give us a bit of faith and happiness, who is something that all of us need with urgent in our life.

Also something that represent us and our culture is "La Gaita" and in this date is usually hear some of this beautiful music. This are two videos of my favorites "Gaitas"..  

This is "Venite pa' Maracaibo" and "Guaco" is the group who sings this song..

 

..and this is "Esta es la ciudad mas bella" and "Cardenales del exito" is the group who sing this song..

I hope to show the world with this post, something of this celebration that represents us and makes us feel proud of our land and our culture. I also hope you liked it. Greetings and best wishes to all.