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Moreno and Rodas participated in the serenade in honor of the foundation of Quito
Posted On 06 Dec 2017
Ecuadornews:
The president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, participated today in the so-called “Serenata Quito“, a traditional festive ceremony that commemorated the 483 years of the Spanish foundation of Quito.
The mayor of the city, Mauricio Rodas, crossed from his office the Plaza de la Independencia, in the colonial quarter of Quito, to the presidential palace of Carondelet to invite the president, as is the custom, to participate in the festival that takes place on the foundation date eve.
With this invitation “we are keeping alive a beautiful tradition that is the Quito serenade“, remarked Rodas in one of the courtyards of the Presidency, where Moreno received the mayor. The capital burgomaster expressed in this way the “love and respect” of the city towards the president, who thanked the invitation and recalled that the natives of other regions who live in Quito have learned to love this capital, Cultural Heritage of Humanity Unesco since 1978.
The president even sang several Quito songs before going to the Plaza de la Independencia, on the outskirts of the Palace, where the “serenade” was performed with the presentation of several musical groups.
The serenade is an old tradition that, according to some historians, became official in 1960 when singers of the city, on the eve of the founding date, woke the neighborhood in the morning with melodies called “albazos”.
Moreno, accompanied by his wife Rocío, went in the wheelchair, in which he moves, because of his disability, to the Plaza de la Independencia, where the party was lit with the group La Toquilla, who sang traditional Ecuadorian songs in fusion with current rhythms, especially rock.
The festivities for the Spanish foundation of the city began on November 24 with a proclamation, while on the eve of that date the new beauty queen of the city was elected, the young Quito Ana Carolina Carvajal.
During the festivities, which will last until Wednesday, a large group of national and foreign artists have appeared in different sectors, including the Venezuelan Nacho, the Colombian Juanes and the Spanish Ana Torroja.
In addition, there have been bullfights in Portuguese style, without the death of the bull in the ring, theater performances, concerts, wooden car competition and other traditional games. (I)
