September 18 Chile Independence Day
Jack Smith
Origin Country. Guess what; the Chilean Independence day started in Chile.
Now, in some cases, you may get a Holiday that started in another country and made it's way to another, but with this, it's not the case. The Chilean Independence day, September 18th, started in Chile.
Is it Important? Of course it is.
Every Independence day is important, no matter what country celebrates it! No, nobody likes to be controlled by a Country that isn't even connected to you, and the Chileans felt the same way about Spain. Well, most of them did. It's important to the people as a reminder that anyone can be independent.
What do they bring to the party?
Meat, meat, meat, and, oh yeah, can't forget the meat. I mean, meat sales go up by $50 Million every year. That, is a lot of food. During the Fiestas Patrias the preferred drink is chicha, a lightly alcoholic beverage typically made from grapes, although apple chicha is popular in southern Chile. Red wine enjoys popularity during the holiday, while pisco, the so-called "national liquor", becomes secondary.
Some Similarities to the U.S
Well, there's alcohol, food, and celebrating all around. But, more specifically, two big things are good feelings all around, and a sense of togetherness. But most importantly the food.
You can Dance if you want to, cause they certainly will.
While its origins are not clearly defined, it is considered to have mostly European Spanish and arguably Indigenous influences. The most widespread version of its origins relates it with the zamacueca which arose in Peru as a variation of Spanish Fandango dancing with criollo. The dance is then thought to have passed to Chile and Bolivia, where its name was shortened and where it continued to evolve. Due to the dance's popularity in the region, the Peruvian evolution of the zamacueca was nicknamed "la chilena", "the Chilean", due to similarities between the dances. Later, after the Pacific War, the term marinera, in honor of Peru's naval combatants and because of hostile attitude towards Chile, was used in place of "la chilena." The Marinera, Zamba and the Cueca styles are distinct from each other and from their root dance, the zamacueca.
Aren't you "Fonda" my Presentation?
A Fonda, for those of you ignoring the pun, is a colorful stand that can be built for two days at a time, and is typically a central market hub for buying food/drink.
Welcome to History Class.
Now, this picture depicts the first Independence day celebration hosted in Chile, and as you can see, it was a lot calmer a celebration.
There will always be some Differences.
Even when talking about Holidays. Now, a big difference between our two celebrations, is that they don't blow anything up. Now, in my opinion, it isn't a celebration until someone's lost an eyebrow or two. Besides exploding things, another big difference, is that it's a city wide celebration for them, while ours is just family based.