Parade of the Children

In years past, we have gone very early Christmas Eve morning  to the staging areas for the annual parade.  There we could see the finishing touches of decorations on the floats, see the little kids getting dressed in their outfits, enjoy the horses and other animals, hear the Dads chatting away over a cup of coffee and a tamal and maybe a card game...

This year we got a later start.  We stopped for breakfast with friends, wandered toward the parade route catching up with more friends...  This year the parade was already in progress when we caught up with it late morning and the crowds were huge, several people deep around the Square.

 

Still fun!  We tippy-toed to see the participants.  You could hardy see the difference between the parade and the spectators, it all blended together.  Police were trying their best with some barricades, but the happy crowd was barely contained.  The dancers could hardly move.  Hard to get good pictures, but we got some.  The crowd shots were easier to get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A drone flying along the route. 

 

 

At one point, there was a long break in the parade.  You could see a giant white, very spirited horse with a girl with huge wings and carrying a very tall star coming.  She was leading the section of the parade with military flatbed trucks.  As they got closer, the horse got more nervous and the police presence got thicker.  We were amazed the beautiful rider was the picture of poise and calm...with a tight grip on the reins.  She definitely was an experienced rider. 

When the horse kicked his hind legs, we thought it was time for us move on...The diesel fumes from the idling trucks was kind of overpowering, too.  So, we had a cup of coffee in a nearly café and took a break.

 

 

We saw more parade later.  Easy to do as the parade lasts several hours.

Resting at the Square.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The big parade is actually a procession of smaller parades and many of these smaller parades, representing different churches, families, schools and other groups and communities, have their own parades from before Christmas, all the way up to Carnaval.  Lots of opportunities to see adorable children all dressed up in holiday outfits.  Some are Biblical characters, some clowns and animals, some in traditional dress and more.  Usually lots of music and dancing, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our famous Christmas Eve Parade is probably the biggest in Latin America and folks from all over the world come to see it.  We feel lucky we can experience the fun, right here in our back yard!