Chile: Events

Easter and Christmas holidays are Chile's most important national celebrations, but there's a conglomeration of secular holidays in September, including Fiestas Patrias (mid-September); National Independence Day on the 18th (a day of spirited partying and rodeos); and Armed Forces Day on the 19th. Of the innumerable local cultural festivals, July's Fiesta de la Virgen de Carmen in La Tirana, northern Chile, is one of the most spectacular. Meanwhile, the mid-north town of Andacollo's Fiesta de la Virgen del Rosario is perhaps the weirdest. Drawing pilgrims every December from as far afield as Bolivia, Asian-inspired team dancing fringes a procession of the Virgin's image to a huge shrine. Horse racing and cock fighting provide ancillary entertainment for the crowds camped on surrounding hillsides.