Rotofest 2025 features int’l bands; Cuenca remains most expensive city; Learn Mandarin; Museo de los Metales exhibit; Sevilla de Oro tourist options

Museo de los Metales deja ver su colección al público – For the first time, the Museo de los Metales is opening part of its collection to the public in the exhibit, “Raíces de metal y memoria.” The project also includes a physical and digital catalogue of the Museum’s most representative pieces. One of the highlighted pieces is a bronze ear of corn cast in the 15th century and attributed to the Inca culture.

El Rotofest 2025 en Cuenca y Yunguilla – The Rotofest 2025 will be held from the 9-11 de octubre in 2 locations: Cuenca and Yunguilla. This 19th edition of the festival will feature alternative music with stages especially designed for rock, electronic and rave. The festival will start el jueves, 9/10 with the “Rock Stage” in the parque La Libertad with national groups such as 3VOL, Letelefono, La Doble, Black Purple, Sugxr Babies, Mandroga, Ilegibles and from México, Suadero Soundsystem. The set will be from noon to midnight. <I don’t think even the youngest of you with the most stamina could keep dancing for 12 hours.>

Anahís Amón is the administrator of the Casona de Palmas, a 200-year-old hacienda in Sevilla de Oro northeast of Cuenca. The property overlooks the Mazar reservoir. (El Mercurio)

On el viernes, 10/10, also at the parque La Libertad, electronic music will take the stage with artists such as Marhu y Amare from Belgium and Sole Llorente from Argentina. Ecuadorian groups will include Jair aka Sapell, Lilian Tech, Luna Alvarado, Frau Troffea, Fensho and Factor RH. The festival will close el sábado 11/10 in the centro ecoturístico de Yunguilla where a “Rave Area” will be installed. The stage will host local groups and big names in international electronica such as Christian Smith of Sweden. Mihai Popoviciu from Romania, Amare from Belgium, and Amalia Blabontín from Chile.

Palmas, ecodestino único – The Palmas parish in Sevilla de Oro cantón is located 85.3 km. and a 2-hour drive northeast of Cuenca at an altitude of 3,000 meters next to the reservoir of the Mazar hydroelectric plant. Activities include boating or kayaking on the reservoir with Asoturimazar. Founding member of the group recalls taking a group of Canadian visitors who sang and drank wine on the boats until an early morning campfire. HidroRide will take you on an ATV adventure to the Cerro Silván at 3,000 meters. The company plans to expand their routes and offer glamping at their Hacienda La Victoria.

The center of the parish also has its attractions with La Casona de Palmas, a restored 200-year-old historic hacienda offering single, double and shared rooms, traditional gastronomy, and details that evoke agrarian life in the old days. The restoration balanced the original architecture with modern comforts. The trinchera, a narrow basement that was used in the past to hide contraband liquor, was preserved along with the woodwork, doors made from local trees, the barn and a wood burning oven. Rooms start at $12, and items on their menu range from $5 to $8.

Campaña contra los incendios forestales – The ‘Yo cuido los bosques’ is a campaign by the Cuenca Bomberos (Fire Department) which is being taken to the rural parishes in Cuenca to strengthen the union of the community in caring for forests, páramos and water sources. Firefighters, along with representatives of the Catholic church are taking the message of prevention of forest fires to communities. <This article is an indication about what season it is in Cuenca. Besides rainy vs dry or summer vs winter, there are also the journalistic seasons of wildfire or landslide stories.>

Cuenca tiene la canasta más cara – The Canasta Familiar Básica (CFB) in Cuenca is $860.35, and the highest in the country. The CFB includes 73 products, is the official measure of inflation in the country, and is calculated for 9 cities. The 2nd and 9th places are Quito with a CFB of $840.92 and Esmeraldas with $781.74. According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INEC), itemized costs in Cuenca are $203.49 for rent, $263.56 for food and beverages, and $52.77 for clothing. <Dang, according to INEC, I spend enough on food to feed a family of four. Although there are 4 in the household if you include the dog and cats.>

Curso de mandarín – Since jueves, el 4/9, applications are open for new training in basic Mandarin Chinese aimed at tourism service providers in the country. <That tells me something about where Ecuador thinks the next wave of tourists is going to be coming from. So all of you who think Ecuadorians better learn English to serve the Anglophone community are SOL. Better learn Spanish or budget in a lot of money for a facilitator.> This initiative is a joint project between the Government and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) through its Instituto Confucio. <If you’d rather learn Mandarin, there used to be a branch of the Institute in Cuenca. And if you knew Spanish, Mandarin and English, you’d be worth your weight in gold here, and you could also talk to half of the people in the world.>
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Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.