Good music and the traditional bonfire lit the party in Porongo, three years after the pandemic

It took three years for the porongueños and visitors to live a new party in a big way in honor of San Juan Bautista, patron saint of this population, which is located 20 kilometers east of the capital of Santa Cruz.

Between 2020 and 2021 people spent the date suffering from Covid-19locked up, watching over relatives, friends or acquaintances, who lost their lives due to the disease.

Last year (2022) it was not celebrated either. Three days earlier, two policemen and a Gacip volunteer were murdered in that jurisdiction, for which the authorities decided to declare three days of mourning and suspend the serenade and all kinds of celebration. There was only religious celebration.

The encebao stick, the sucumbé, the procession, the baptism with water from Piraí, the typical dances and the treading of embers at midnight they bloomed again in this tourist town, whose visitors arrive via the Urubó bridge or through the La Guardia area.

“Our culture and our traditions are part of the identity of our people. We are prepared to receive all those who visit us, ”he said this Friday night neptali mendozamayor of this municipality.

And it is that it is not for less, the porongueños wait with open arms for the visitors. “It was three years that there was nothing. Now we expect about 30,000 people in these days of celebration,” a municipal official told EL DEBER.

on this day It all started with the procession led by the priest, Calixto Candía, who arrived at the Piraí river in a cart, along with other faithful. They collected water in a jug to baptize two girls, who went with their parents to receive the sacrament at the town church at night.

Around 20:00 the holy mass was celebrated attended by authorities and special guests. Father Calixto was accompanied by two other priests. The one who was in charge of baptizing was Marcelo Taborga, a parish priest who came from Terebinto to participate in the celebration.

Once the mass is over, at approximately 10:10 p.m., the athletes arrived from the capital of Santa Cruz with the torch. They handed over the flame to the municipal mayor, Neptaly Mendoza, who lit the bonfire in front of the church to the rhythm of a band. The jenecherú leaves the embers to step on at midnighta tradition of the porongueños.

Half an hour later the party broke out in a popular festival, whose main animation is in charge of the artist Guisela Santa Cruz, a special guest at the feast of San Juan Bautista.

Program for this Saturday June 24

10:00 Mass, San Juan Bautista church (Porongo).

After the mass, there will be a procession with the patron saint, around the square and later the ‘Baile de Los Turcos’ (dance).

After the religious celebration, in the same square there will be traditional games, such as encebao stick, ring game, tarasca, bagging race, among others.