The city of Formosa brought together local and regional visitors for three days, as well as delegations from Paraguay, who enjoyed the VII edition of the National and international Festival of the Mate and Tereré Riverwhich ended this Sunday, and whose objective is “to revalue our customs and culture,” according to what the mayor of the provincial capital, Jorge Jofré, told Télam.
The name of the party represents the three most important icons of Formoseña culture that sisters them with the neighboring country of Paraguay.
Over the years, the party managed to position itself as one of the largest open-air meetings in the province and the region, which boosts the local economy and generates jobs.
The festival was marked by three days of intense heat, which exceeded 35 degreesand just a timid shower on Saturday afternoon.
In Plaza San Martín -in the heart of the city- adults and children participated in the Zumba masterclass, while at the Railway Museum they enjoyed an attractive exhibition on model making, referring to Malvinas, and guided tours.
The tereré, the thermolars, frozen bottles, glass and plastic jugs, accompanied by the “guampas”, containers made of animal horns, could not be missing.
Tereré is like mate, but cold. It is a “yuyos” tea that is prepared with cold water and has different properties depending on the herb used: for example, with sarsaparilla it helps to eliminate toxins due to its high content of minerals, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
VII EDITION OF THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE RIVER, MATE AND TERERÉ
This afternoon began the VII edition of the National and International Festival of the River, Mate and Tereré, which will take place all weekend at the Paseo Ferroviario in the city of #Formosa. pic.twitter.com/G4S40ZxE7G
– Government of Formosa (@GobiernoFormosa) January 21, 2023
Other widely used herbs for tereré are mint and perdudilla which, according to the “yuyeros”, is special for the kidneys, and can be found in any corner or patio in the city.
In the Paseo Ferroviario, Pedro, a weed seller from the popular “Mercado 4” in Asunción, who participated in the festival together with the Paraguayan delegation, told Télam that “tereré is exchange, talk and share”.
“With the tereré we already made history in Paraguay and it is heritage, cultural and material before Unesco,” he stressed.
He advised “drinking with weeds because it relieves our soul, heart and physical pain” and explained that “the first tereré should not be taken because it takes Santo Tomás, the saint of yerba mate; you should not drink it with a lot of ice and use common yerba to feel the medicinal herbs”.
Tereré, Intangible Heritage of Humanity
In December 2020, the Unesco Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity approved the inclusion of the “Traditional Practices and Knowledge of Tereré in the Pohã Ñana Culture. Ancestral Guarani drink in Paraguay” in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In dialogue with Télam, the mayor of the city of Formosa said that the festival seeks “fundamentally to revalue our customs and culture, connect with the region and neighboring countries that have the same idiosyncrasy, in addition to enhancing the natural beauty through the river that unites with Paraguay”.
“Although we are not a seaside province, we have what is ours and nothing to envy anyone” emphasized the community chief, while serving a tereré with “stone breaker” that helps prevent kidney stones, as well as avoiding digestive disorders and fluid retention .
In this sense, Jofré added that the city and the province grew a lot: “In winter we have the grapefruit festival in Laguna Blanca, this festival of the river and tereré, which is consolidated in the region, and in February the traditional fishing of the Corvina in Herradura; the contact that Formosa offers you with nature is priceless”.
“Here in the capital, one minute from the center, you get close to the banks of the Paraguay River and you can see capybaras, we have an Irupé walk, a variety of birds that make sunrises unique, Formosa is nature,” remarked the mayor.
“What we want, in coordination with the provincial government, is that year after year it is a party for and by the people of Formosa and in the same way for all the visitors who come to our city to enjoy it. It is a party that is organized with a lot of effort,” he said.
The Minister of Tourism, Silvia Segovia, the Minister of Culture and Education, Luis Basterra, the Director of Municipal Tourism, Cistina Salomón and tourism authorities of the region and Paraguay participated.
The National and International Festival of Mate, Río and Tereré is positioned in the region as an option for the summer, maintaining and preserving its cultures, in this case the traditional drink of the area: the tereré, informed the municipality of Formosa.
