Today’s Pase del Niño, Cuenca’s biggest parade of the year, combines the sacred and the profane

Dec 24, 2019 | 1 comment

Calle Simon Bolivar balconies are a favorite vantage point for Pase del Niño watching.

By Sylvan Hardy

Easily the biggest public event of the year in Cuenca, today’s Christmas Eve Pase del Niño parade, or Passing of the Child, is a colorful mixture of the sacred and the profane. To locals, it is a time-honored Christian festival of homage to the Christ child that combines Catholic and indigenous traditions. Everyone agrees that it’s a lot of fun.

The Pase del Niño is mostly about the children.

The seven-hour-plus procession that steps off at 10 this morning, features floats and decorated cars and trucks, many festooned with flowers, fruits and vegetables, empty beer cans and liquor bottles. Hood ornaments include roasted pigs, chickens and guinea pigs. There are bands, dancers, a variety of street performers, children on horses and donkeys, and various Biblical characters.

In recent years, the Three Wise Men have made an appearance on Harley Davidsons and Mary and Joseph have cart-wheeled the length of Calle Simon Bolivar. Everywhere there are children dressed in colorful homemade costumes.

Introduced to Latin America by the Spanish almost 500 years ago, the Pase del Niño is a Christmas celebration in which likenesses of the infant Jesus are carried through towns and villages. In Ecuador, the tradition remains strongest in the Andean region. Organizers of the Cuenca parade claim that theirs is the largest Pase del Niño in all of Latin America; as many as 15,000 will participate in the procession, with about 120,000 more watching from sidewalks, balconies and roof tops.

For some kids, the parade is serious business.

The parade is actually a collection of hundreds of smaller parades, according to José Washington Noroña, one of the event’s organizers. “Every neighborhood and nearby town will have its own parade with its own entries. Each will carry its own statue of the Christ child. This is something that communities plan for the entire year. Although most entries are from Cuenca and the surrounding area, some come from as far away as Loja in the south, as well as Otavalo and Ibarra in the north,” says Noroña.

Although the Christmas Eve parade may be the main event, the Pase del Niño celebration is a three-month-long activity, beginning the first Sunday after Advent and continuing until Carnival in February. The tradition also includes Novenas, nine consecutive nights of song, food and prayer, celebrated in homes and churches. On Christmas Eve, the Misa del Gallo, or Rooster Mass, is celebrated in the Cathedral and local churches.

There are lots of kids on horseback.

Organizers say that the parade has a strong connection to the United States. Ecuadorians who live in the U.S. are major contributors, says Noroña. “Those who have done well there send money as thanks for their safe passage and future success.””

The U.S influence is evident in many of the parade entries. Children wear cowboy outfits and such personalities as Bart Simpson and Donald Trump, dressed up as Santa Claus, have made parade appearances. No matter the origin of the characters, Noroña says that the organizers try to keep the focus religious. “We don’t dictate what participants can do, but we try to keep the focus on the birth of Christ. One year, I saw a man dressed as Sponge Bob and thought he was a little out of place.””

For some, it’s a snooze.

The centerpiece of Cuenca’s parade is an 1823 sculpture of the infant Jesus that was commissioned by Cuencano Josefa Heredia from an unknown local artist. When the sculpture came into the possession of Cuenca Monsignor Miguel Cordero Crespo more than a century later, he took it to the Holy Land and Rome in 1961, where it was blessed by Pope John XXIII. After the journey and the anointment, the statute became known as Niño Viajero, or Traveling Child, and has been the parade´s main attraction ever since.

The parade proceeds from west to east down Calle Simon Bolivar, ending a few blocks east of Parque Calderon.

The ‘circumcision mobile.’ The first cut is the deepest.

Along the parade route and in nearby parks and plazas, hundreds of vendors sell traditional foods, cotton candy, drinks, ice cream and candy. There are also several distribution points for chicha, the traditional Pase del Niño beverage; it’s free, but beware: the alcohol content is high.

The weather report calls for a mix of clouds and sun but short periods of rain are possible. Parade organizers always hope for overcast skies but no rain since the equatorial sun is brutal for small children.

Where to watch the parade
Although the sidewalks and balconies around Parque Calderon are considered prime viewing areas, anywhere along Simon Bolivar, from Iglesia Corazón de Jesus, where Bolivar and Gran Colombia split, will provide a good vantage point. The best looks are from the upper-floor balconies of homes and businesses along Simon Bolivar.

Heading for the pow wow.

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