Carnival in Ambato
Celebrations in Ambato have been well underway since Jan. 20 with sports competitions and agricultural expositions.
Ambato’s Carnival is special within Ecuador because it’s the only one nationally recognized as an intangible cultural event.
The city’s most famous Carnival festival is the Festival of Fruits and Flowers
Officials integrated this festival into the religious celebration in 1950 to commemorate the region’s abundant apples, pear and plum harvest and varieties of flowers in bloom at this time of year. The city also initiated the festival to bounce back from a devastating earthquake that shook the region the previous year.
Each year the Ambato Carnival grows to more and more spectacular levels. It now includes an an immense parade of flower floats, and over 80 traditional dance groups that traverse the city on Fat Tuesday.
In addition to the fruits and flowers fest, the city holds a traditional music festival, a food festival, and an immense bread blessing that takes place in the main square outside the Ambato cathedral.
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