Cotopaxi: Machachi Paseo de Chagra
Paseo de Chagra is a festival of the people who live under the volcano Cotopaxi. It is held in the village of Machachi and is reputably the largest horse show in the world. The streets are filled with the cowboys of the Andes called Chagras showing off their horses prancing and dancing. Silver bridles gleam in the sunlight. The local Ecuadorian people dressed in their red, green and blue capes and Sunday best look on in delight as the Gauchos get their horses to do a little dance or to rear in front of them. Street food sellers take the opportunity to sell their wares sometimes directly underneath the horses hoofs putting their lives in danger oblivious to the horses and intent on selling for a few cents. The Paseo is a kind of thank you and acknowledgement to the Eruption of the volcano Cotapaxi in 1877, the apostle Santiago and the canonisation of Mejia (Pichincha). The festival starts with the horse parade, then eating typical food of the area and then the traditional bull fight. The festival only started in 1981 and has grown from there. The cowboys wear a traditional poncho and the woman riders wear flowing colourful dresses.
