- Title: BOLIVIA: Bolivian musicians gather to celebrate annual band festival
- Date: 3rd February 2008
- Summary: L!3) ORURO, BOLIVIA (JANUARY 26, 2008) (REUTERS) BAND DIRECTOR VARIOUS OF BAND MUSICIANS AND AUDIENCE MEMBERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BAND DIRECTOR WALDO VILLCA SAYING: "Music is the universal language and all the inhabitants of this planet communicate through music. For Bolivia today is a day of unity and brotherhood." VARIOUS OF BAND PLAYING AND AUDIENCE MEMBERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BAND MEMBER FIDEL MARTINEZ SAYING: "It is the most beautiful festival I have seen in my life. Way back when there weren't these kinds of things and now that we see them they are wonderful." VARIOUS OF BAND PLAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BAND MEMBER OSCAR ANTEZANA SAYING: "We see this every year, people who weren't band members like women and children or people who live outside the country, professionals, everyone. Appreciation of the bands is growing and obviously the festival is too." VARIOUS OF MUSICIANS PLAYING
- Embargoed: 18th February 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVA1L6J90HXD1LAXXNYORBC5479Q
- Story Text: Thousands of Bolivian musicians gather to play in Orura to the delight of band enthusiasts.
About 2,500 musicians broke out their trumpets, French horns, cymbals and giant drums to wow Oruro on Saturday (January 26) a few days before its annual band festival is set to begin.
Oruro plays host to the band festival as part of the run-up to Carnival. The mining city is famous for its costumes and elaborate masks, which make the pre-Lenten celebration one of Latin America's most vibrant street festivals. The huge band played everything from the national anthem to an Aymara "Waca Waca," which is driven by a heavy drum beat that picks up speed and spins into a frenzy.
But the local soccer club's rallying song was what most delighted the crowd of several thousand spectators, who surrounded the concrete bleachers where the bands played.
"It is the most beautiful festival I have seen in my life. Way back when there weren't these kinds of things and now that we see them they are wonderful," said band member Fidel Martinez.
Those same musicians broke a Guinness world record for having 1,166 trumpeters play at once, and they formally presented the Guinness certificate to the community.
But the organizers admitted they will probably never break the world record set in Norway, when more than 20,000 musicians played simultaneously.
The theme of this year's festival was unity for Bolivia, a poor country deeply divided over reforms proposed by leftist President Evo Morales, who is the country's first indigenous leader.
"Music is the universal language and all the inhabitants of this planet communicate through music. For Bolivia today is a day of unity and brotherhood," said band leader Waldo Villca.
Most people in the wealthier Eastern lowlands oppose Morales' new draft constitution, while many in the poorer Western highlands back it. The divide is regional, ethnic and economic. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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