LOCAL HOLIDAY: CHINITA´S  FAIR!!

My favorite holiday is the chinita´s fair. The people of Maracaibo celebrate the Chinita's fair in November for three days, from November 17^th to November 19^th. One of the main city avenues, Bella Vista, is closed for several blocks and the city puts lights along the whole avenue. The lights stay up for months, until after Christmas. There are firework shows and street vendors, and hundreds of thousands of people celebrate all night. The Chinita’s fair officially begins the last Saturday of October when the Virgin is taken down from the altar in which she rests. She tours all over the Zulia State and returns to the Basilica to start all the religious festivities.

Other cultural activities are held during the fair. Expo-Zulia is a temporary marketplace where the zulians show a great deal products that characterize our region. The Bullfights are also popular and a number of these are held in our bullring. Many gaiteros meet in front of the basilica to sing their best gaitas to please the patron virgin.
The last two days of the Chinita’s fair are the most special. The night of the 17th, many people enjoy the concerts and gaita groups that sing in the different places of our city. The party begins on the 17^th and lasts until the 18^th. I love it, I always go with my friends and my boyfriend and we having fun in the Gaitero Daybreak, then we usually go to the Chinita’s baseball game and later in the afternoon I go to the basilica with my family.