La Mama Negra, SantÃsima tragedia (costumed), a celebration of the Captaincy, is a vibrant, colorful and magical popular theater that encapsulates the cultural soul of Latacunga. This traditional festival fuses indigenous rituals with Spanish customs in syncretism with expressions of religious faith, offering a spectacle of music, dances and colorful costumes that enchant those who seek to immerse themselves in the authenticity of Ecuadorian cultural tourism, and especially of this original representation of a people who give thanks and dance for life to be prosperous and happy.
Currently, the city of Latacunga is fortunate to keep alive two versions of the festival that have been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation, the original or ancestral version is celebrated on September 23, 24 and the following weekend, in honor of the Virgen de la Merced, carried out by vivanderas, devotees and donors of the Pichincha market and the sector of El Salto. The anonymity of the participants stands out due to the use of masks and painted faces.
The second version is held every year, the first Saturday of November that does not coincide with the holiday for the Day of the Dead (November 2) is organized by the Municipality of the city, the five main characters are prominent citizens of Latacunga who have contributed to the development of the city in various fields; maintains faith and gratitude to the Virgin of La Merced for giving care and blessings to the city and its inhabitants. It is a massive tourist event of national and international transcendence in which Latacunga attracts the gaze of locals and strangers.Â
There are several versions about the origin of the Fiesta de la Mama Negra, but the one that has been most popular in Latacungueña society is the one that explains the festival as an act of faith and gratitude to the Virgen de las Mercedes for having stopped the fury of the colossal volcano Cotopaxi in one of its eruptions, having avoided the destruction of the city and keeping alive the grateful people, who in their desperation for the destruction that was coming with the eruption, went in agglomeration to El Calvario hill, the highest point of the city, carrying food, music, drink and the hope that the protective mantle of the Virgin of Mercy would keep them alive.
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