September is, for Los Cruzños, the month of Santa Cruz, Spring and Love. At this time the tajibos flourish and the city is filled with colors that evoke the land and collective memory. In that environment, the Cruceña evening, an activity that has become an alternative to official serenades and that today many recognize as a very authentic tribute to Camba identity.
Unlike serenade in the Expocruz or the one organized by the Mayor’s Office in the Arenal, This celebration does not have “owners” or respond to institutional agendas. It is the result of the citizen will to rescue the essence of the Cruz Cruzas the activist Ivanna Vargas explains: “The Cruceña evening was born by the deep need to preserve our customs, traditions, culture and history. In Santa Cruz, loving ours is not an option: it is a duty, a commitment and an inheritance that we must take care of.”
The idea arose from a group of crossings who dreamed of leaving a cultural legacy to future generations. Without great resources or external supportas in the Holy Cross of yesteryear, when the small city was forged by its own effort, the evening has established itself in just four years as a citizen tradition, with strong popular roots.
Bicentennial
This 2025, Within the framework of the 200 years of the proclamation of independence of Santa Cruz de la Corona Española, the activity acquires a special symbolism. The evening develops simultaneously in three stages: traditional games, the corner of stories and legends, and the main stage, where invited artists are presented. There are voluntarily participating singers, musicians and folk dance groups, including the enthusiastic representatives of the Catholic University – Third Age. “Those ladies have prepared since January to dance that day, my mother is 90 years old and will be present,” says Vargas with pride.
Among this year’s special guests is Mario Roca, “El Prof Mario”, who assumes the challenge of strengthening the cultural sector of the evening. “I have a space in the center of the square – which I consider undeserved – where I will talk about culture, traditions, myths and legends of the Bolivian east. I want this activity to be a meeting point for the crossings. I will present iconic characters like La Viudita, Coto Colorau, La Loca Jarichi and Cañoto”, Advances.
The program also contemplates the participation of the Boy Scouts, responsible for encouraging with typical games to children and young people, while music and dance gather diverse generations around the same feeling: the pride of being a crossed.
The Cruceña evening does not seek to compete with the official celebrations, but to recover the community and spontaneous sense of the celebration. Every year, more people consider it the most genuine tribute to Santa Cruz, because it is born from the heart of the people and not of others.
