Doce de Abril (12 of April) marks the founding day of Cuenca. The City was named in 1557.
(Full name is 'Santa Ana de los cuatro ríos de Cuenca'. It was named after Cuenca, Spain and after the 4 rivers here.)
Today, it's a celebration of several days of arts and crafts, music and parades.
We started out early on our morning walk. Celebrations were getting organized at the Square.
Military, government officials and tourism staff were getting ready for the arrival of dignitaries.
You can see the soldiers in blue historic uniforms from the Spanish days.
The press is getting set up on the left.
Lovely flower displays.
Cuenca is 455 years old!
She's still lookin' good.
We continued to breakfast and then returned later to a parade in progress. Big crowds at the reviewing stands. Miss Cuenca was there, along with other important folks.
Several colorful dancing groups passed by.
Vendors in the crowd...you can see all the balloons for sale.
Spectators on the balconies. They were enjoying their excellent view.
Pictures of the crowd.
We were catching the tail-end of the parade...visitors and well-wishers participated from all over South America.
Here are the school girls from Uruguay.
The last set of visitors are from Venezuela.
The very end participants were from the military's marching band. Of course, they were playing 'Chola Cuencana'!!
As the crowd dispersed, some families headed to the Square to continue enjoying the afternoon. We did, too. Kids had fun playing in the fountain, eating treats and visiting with each other.
A llama resting between pictures with the children.
Selling lottery tickets.
Ladies weaving.
A dancer posing for pictures.
We'll continue celebrating for the next few days. Still lots to see and do.
Happy Birthday, Cuenca!
This is what the sunset looked like from our porch tonight after the afternoon rains.
A couple beats later, the sky was on fire!
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