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Friday 10 June 2016

Fiesta of the Sacred Heart, El Paso


Last week, the 5th June, in El Paso was the beautiful fiesta of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It's one of those fiestas which is not all about party time but more about reflection and celebration. Firmly with a religious base, it's very much worth a visit whether religious or not.

The amazing thing about this annual celebration is the way the decorations are made, an incredibly painstaking labour of love using natural materials and which literally takes months. 

The procession starts from the church of the Conception of Bonanza in the upper part of El Paso and then down into the town. Along the way the streets are decorated with handmade lanterns to light the way, arches and tapestries of flowers and seeds that depict various images. They are all created with natural materials made by different neighbourhoods, groups, associations and individuals and take months to make - and just for this day.
All the various areas of El Paso contribute including El Paso de Abajo, Tajuya, La Rosa, Camino Viejo, Fatima, El Calvario, Tenerra, artists Rodrigo Gonzalez de Paiz and Carlos Afonso, the Red Cross, the Center for Disability Care in Triana and different schools in El Paso.