Bolivia - Culture - Festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria

Revelers play reed pipes and participate in a parade, during the festival of the Virgen de la Candelari. One of Bolivia's most famous festivals, the festival of the Virgen de la Candelari, takes place in the usually quite rural fishing village of Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. For three days from February 2nd to the 5th the village is transformed by the Aymara indigenous community who celebrate with street parades, colorful costumes, music, traditional bands, dancing and enormous amount of drinking and celebrating. Vehicles are blessed with beer and people gather for days to celebrate in a mixture of Catholic and native religions. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)