Chile celebrates Independence Day on September 18th, and this year marks the 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. I’ve been told by a number of sources that this date is somewhat incorrect, as September 18th is the day that the first declaration was signed that started the move towards independence, which didn’t actually take place for many more months, but… hey, any reason to celebrate is good enough for me, and in Chile they seriously celebrate!!
Living 2 blocks from La Moneda, the presidential palace, is like living 2 blocks from the White House in DC. Especially for this national holiday, we found ourselves in the middle of things. To start the (4 day!!) weekend off, we went to a light show at La Moneda with Raúl and Diana. We had seen them setting up for a week and practicing the last few nights, so we knew it was going to be very cool. They projected different moving images and scenes onto the building itself, and created a big misty fountain on the front lawn that they projected photos or videos of dances and all sorts of other cool things onto. Additionally there were videos, strobe lights, and fireworks! Who wouldn’t want to see that?
Every one did, apparently, because the first night we were caught up in the crowd of between 20-60,000 eager Chileans. We were somewhere in the first third of the crowd, but I could just barely see the top of the building. The people in the back of the crowd must have gotten nothing but the fireworks. It ended up being a bit overwhelming, so we beat the crowds out of there and went back to our apartment to watch the last few minutes on our very fuzzy TV. At least we had the wine…
A quick sample of what we got to see here
The full version for anyone who has an hour to spare here
We went back on Monday night and braved the somewhat-less-massive crowds (and staked out spots over an hour before it started) and actually got to see about 85% of things! The show was absolutely amazing- hands down the best public celebration I’ve seen!
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