Chile: 70,000 pilgrims arrive this weekend in Ayquina to honor the Virgin

At 3,000 meters above sea level, Ayquina, a small town in the Chilean region of Antofagasta where only around 50 people live, sees its usual calm altered by the arrival of thousands of pilgrims who will attend the celebrations next weekend. in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The traditional religious festival is one of the most important in northern Chile, with an estimated 70,000 devotees who come from different parts of the country to honor the Virgin, commonly called “Chinita de Ayquina”, whose central festival is celebrated on the 8th of September.

The activities last several days, in which different celebrations take place by the diocesan Church of San Juan Bautista de Calama.

This weekend, the young people of the diocese participated in the youth pilgrimage with the local Bishop, Mons. Tomás Carrasco Cortés, and in preparation for the National Youth Day 2025 that will take place in La Serena.

In this context, the prelate celebrated Mass in the desert and compared the path to the Sanctuary of Guadalupe with Christ’s path to Calvary, accompanied by the loving gaze of the Virgin.

The festival of the Virgin of Guadalupe is characterized by traditional religious dances, which reflect the cultural identity of the Andes, represented by dance groups that tour the town in colorful outfits to express their devotion.

At midnight on September 7, the sky of Ayquina lights up with fireworks to welcome the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, among dancers and pilgrims, many of them from Calama, who walk for about 24 hours 74 kilometers through the desert.

On Sunday the 8th, the central festival of the Virgin, during the early hours of the morning the greeting at dawn of the religious dances will take place in the square. At 8:00 a.m., the Virgin will leave the esplanade.

During the morning the religious dances will continue to take place, and at 11:00 a.m. the Campaign Mass will be celebrated on the esplanade. At 2:00 p.m. the procession will take place from the square. At 7:00 p.m. the Virgin will descend into the temple.

History of the Virgin of Guadalupe de Ayquina

The origin of the devotion dates back to December 12, 1646, when a boy named Casimiro Saire was shepherding his father’s lambs and saw a woman of his height appear, creating a friendship with her.

When the adults approached the place to verify what the child was saying, they found the image of the Virgin, thus beginning this important story of faith.

The local residents installed the image in the ruins of a nearby chapel, but at night, the Virgin returned to the place where she had initially appeared to the child.

It was then that the community built a chapel for her, inaugurated on September 8, the date on which the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe is currently celebrated in Ayquina.

A project called “Ayquina from its origin” was recently presented, which seeks to recover and value the history of the devotion, and rescue the cultural and religious importance that this festival has for the region.

The ultimate goal is to consolidate a definitive version of the history of the apparition and disseminate it in an accessible and effective way, to ensure its perpetuity.