Where to see Cuenca Bienal exhibits; GRACE fair promotes creativity; Cuenca recognized by UNESCO; Cops bust fake car docs gang; Catch the night train
Bored?
200 visitas diarias a Bienal – The 17th Edition of the Bienal de Cuenca, titled “The Game: Bienal de Bienales” has
attracted a large number of people in its first week. It will run until el 1/2/2026 at 13 locations. The locations are: <And they might be wrong since they’re printed in a blurry, tiny font.>
GalerÃa Fly (Mariscal La Mar Airport)
Casa de Las Posadas (Gran Colombia 17-42)
Museo de Arte Moderno (Sucre y Coronel Talbot)
Centro de Información: Casa Sede de la Bienal
Casa Márquez (Juan Montalvo 6-18?)
Casa de la Lira (La Condomine 12-124?)
Escuela Central (Luis Cordero y Gran Colombia)
GalerÃa de la AlcaldÃa (Simón BolÃvar y Pres. Borrero)
Salón del Pueblo (Mariscal Sucre y Benigno Malo)
Sala Proceso (Luis Cordero y Presidente Córdova)
Museo de las Conceptas (Hermano Miguel y Pres. Córdova)
Museo Universitario (Av. 12 de Abril 7-55?)
Capilla Museo de la Medicina (Av. 12 de Abril 7-55?)
GalerÃa OFF (Av. 10 de Agosto 4-364 y Federico Proaño)
Museo de los Metales <av. Solano near 10 de Agosto>
The GalerÃa de la AlcaldÃa, at the corner of Simón BolÃvar y Pres. Borrero, is one of the locations of the Cuenca Art Bienal. (El Mercurio)
Feria impulsa emprendimiento – The GRACE Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to social inclusion and community strengthening announced its first edition of the “Grace and Friends Fair.” This event was created to boost local entrepreneurship and celebrate Cuencano creativity. <Which is very often seen in drivers using new and novel maneuvers to get to where they want to go – driving on sidewalks (personally guilty) and running red lights (not guilty)>. The event will be held on the 2nd, 22nd, & 29th de noviembre and the 13th & 21st de diciembre from 10:00 to 14:30 in the Edificio Astudillo & Hijos (Av. Ordóñez Lasso y Guayacán). 75 exhibitors will offer food, craft, art, decorative, carpentry, painting, and handmade products. They will also offer special promotions and there is free parking. <Just pull up onto the traffic median and park parallel with the driving lanes. These spaces are not available to low slung sports cars.>
Música y danzas habrá en mercado 3 de noviembre – The mercado 3 de noviembre is celebrating its 67th year of service to the community with various activities. On el domingo, 2/11 a las 9:00 there will be a mass, a dance festival and the 2nd edition of the Cuy Race and Best Dressed Cuy contest. <I’ve never seen a cuy served with dressing, and it’s really too small to stuff.> El lunes, 3/11 a las 13:00, there will be a solemn session with local bigwigs. A las 14:00 there will be music with the Dúo Sentimientos, Las Diosas, Esteban Barrera and his Star Band.
Festival y Feria – For the 205th anniversary of Cuenca’s independence, there will be a Festival RaÃces (Roots) from el 1-4/11 in El Vado, and the Feria Artesanal Maki: la magia del barro (the magic of clay) from el 1-3/11 in the Casa Municipal del Alfarero.
Las artes se toman Museo Pumapungo por el feriado – The festivities for the Independence of Cuenca at the Pumapungo Museum include the opening of the collection, Future F25, and the show “La Dama de Pumapungo” which is dedicated to a woman who lived in the area for 500 years. The “Chicha” exhibit will also open. This will explore the techniques, images and memories of this ancestral Andean beverage. On el 1/11, activities start a las 10:00 with the puppet show “TITA” by Tecuenticos. A las 11:00, there wil be a traditional dance show. A las 12:00, there will be a chorus and musical ensembles paying tribute to the city. A las 14:00 there will be a guided tour of the archeological treasures and cultures of the museum. The day ends at 18:00 with a night time mediación (mediation?) for the Day of the Dead, dedicated to the memory and visions about life and death. Museum hours during the holidays will be on the 2nd, 3d, & 4th of Nov. from 10-16:00.
Inaugurada una ruta de ‘Tren Nocturno’ – A new train covers the route Ibarra-Andrade MarÃn in Imbabura. It runs from jueves a domingo starting a las 20:00 at a cost of $15 per person. The route, which takes about 2 hours, leaves from the Estación de Ibarra and offers passengers music, art, and Andean landscapes <but how do you see them if it’s dark?>, entertainment <a party train? byob?> and the opportunity to learn more about the history and rich culture of the area. You can get digital tickets from the official site of the servicio ferroviario de Imbabura.
Hungry?
Locales con clasificación – <If you’re hungry head up to Turi.> The Turi parish has become the scene for the Arcsa Fest – Cuenca, cradle of entrepreneurs. This event celebrates the formalizing, sanitary quality, and boosting of local businesses. The Agencia Nacional de Regulación, Control, 7y Vigilancia Sanitaria (ARCSA) announced that a historic milestone has been reached for the gastronomic sector of the parish. 90% of the establishments have an “A” rating, awarded for complying with best hygiene practices and food handling. 11 locations received their certificates el viernes. <So if you have a sensitive stomach, it looks like Turi is where you should go to eat out.>
Premio a historiador – The Cuencano historian Juan MartÃnez Borrero was recognized with a Special Award at the 31st Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, considered the Oscars world gastronomic literature. The ceremony was in Riad, Saudi Arabia at the Saudi Feast Food Festival. The book, “La Mesa Colonial en la Audiencia de Quito,” explores the ties between food, society, and culture in the Andes during the 18th Century. It reveals how food practices expressed hierarchies, cultural mixing, and forms of daily resistance. <So where can I get this book?>
Curious?
Cae red con especies vehiculares de Azuay – The Nacional PolicÃa found 22,000 forms used to issue vehicle permits and registrations in a house in a house in Durán. Also found were seals, stamps and paste on stickers. The forms were valid for 27 cantons, mostly in Guayas, Pichincha, ManabÃ, Emeraldas, Los RÃos, Cotopaxi and Imbabura. In Azuay, they were for the cantons of Oña, Pucará and Chordeleg. The documents provide proof that a vehicle has passed the Revisión Técnica Vehicular (RTV) needed to register your vehicle and that it complies with all the requirements to be on the road. <So be very suspicious of people offering to help you get your car registered without your presence. And be even more suspicious if they tell you they don’t need to take your car to do that.>
Other forms found are used for changing ownership of vehicles, reprinting or duplicating the matricula, and certificates that there are or are not liens on the vehicle. The house was raided el 28/10 and 3 people with criminal histories were arrested, allegedly linked to the Los Chone Killers. They are being investigated for being a part of a network of corruption in transit procedures.
Primer paso de terminal sur – The City has made the first step towards the construction of the Terminal Terrestre Sur with the relocation of the Narancay vendors. The terminal will be built on the land occupied by the vendors who were relocated to the site in 2016. The vendors will be relocated to a new site in Carmen de Guzho. This terminal will take 30% of the vehicle fleet at the current Terminal Terrestre near the Chola Cuencana. The Terminal Terrestre Sur will serve passengers travelling to the southern cantons and provinces. The $9.1 million project will be financed by the Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe (CAF)>. The construction will last 360 days and the project will include 12 boarding platforms, 5 disboarding platforms, commercial spaces, restaurants, ticket offices, waiting rooms, a parking lot for 72 vehicles and taxi bays. There will also be a traffic plan to improve circulation and repaving and improvements to streets such as De la Ópera, De la Zarzuela, Beethoven and Del Charango. <So in about a year <Is an Ecuadorian año similar to an Ecuadorian mañana?>, you will take the bus to Loja or Vilcabamba, from this terminal.>
Cuenca es una ciudad creativa – On el viernes, 31/11, Cuenca received recognition from Unesco as a Ciudad Creativa del Mundo in the area of gastronomy. On the DÃa Mundial de las Ciudades 2025, Audrey Azoulay, general director of Unesco, designated 58 cities as new members of the Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN). The UCCN recognition increases the city’s international exposure. With these new members, there are now 408 cities in over 100 countries. Cities can be recognized in 7 areas: Crafts and popular arts, design, cinema, gastronomy, literature, media arts, music, and architecture. <For sure, the food here has gotten a lot better than when I first arrived.>
Descartan a Galápagos para una base extranjera – After defending it, Pres. Noboa rejected his proposal to install a foreign military base on Balta island in the Galápagos. After talking to Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, he decided that the cities in which bases could be installed would be Manta or Salinas, assuming Ecuadorians approve the question in the upcoming referendum. <So all of you with opinions about US bases in Ecuador now have your chance to say something. Assuming you bothered to register to vote.>
Moneda por los 205 años de la Independencia de Cuenca – <This article is for all of you coin collectors.) The Banco Central de Ecuador has issued a commemorative coin, “Independencia de Cuenca 1820-2025”. The coin is of 92% sterling silver, weighing 27 grams with a 40 mm. diameter and a face value of 1 sucre, the national currency that circulated for over a century. On one side, the blue cupulas of the New Cathedral are in color with Independencia de Cuenca running around the top and 1820-2025 around the bottom. 1,500 coins were struck in this limited edition. You can get it at the Banco Central in Cuenca, Quito and Guayaquil. In Cuenca it is for sale in the Museo de la Moneda on Calle Larga y Av. Huayna Cápac. It will cost $60 during noviembre, and $63 after. <Assuming there are any left.>.
