The largest fair in Alasitas (or Alacita, Alacitas, Alasita; in Spanish : Feria de las Alasitas) is an annual month-long cultural event beginning on January 24 in La Paz, Bolivia. It honors Ekeko, the god Aymara of abundance, and is renowned for the offering of miniature objects. Other festivals and ferias throughout Bolivia incorporate alasitas into religious observances: the Feast of the Virgin of Copacabana and the Feast of the Virgin of Urkupiña, for example.
Alasitas, the month of abundance
The indigenous Aymara people observed an event called Chhalasita in pre-Columbian times, when people prayed for good harvests and traded commodities. Over time it evolved to accommodate elements of Catholicism and Western acquisition. Its name is the Aymara word for “buy me.”
The Alasitas festival is held every year for the Ekeko. It stretches along many streets and parks in central La Paz and smaller events are held in many areas of the city. People attend the event from all over the city and even travel from other cities in Bolivia to purchase miniature versions of products that they would like to gift to someone else. These goods can be blessed by any of the men and (less frequently) women acting as shaman.
It is believed that if someone gives a miniature version, the recipient will get the real item within the next year. Examples of goods that can be purchased are household items, food, computers, building materials, cell phones, houses, cars, college degrees, and even figures of domestic workers (which the recipient could hope to employ).
On January 24 at noon, the Catholic Church joins the celebration by blessing the gifts at the main cathedral of La Paz.
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