Guatemalan Independence Celebrations

Have A Happy Independence Day everyone!

Guatemala has one really strange celebration for the Independence Day festivities: Freedom Torches or Antorchas de Libertad.

As I have explained in previous years, on September 14, people from all over the Guatemala begin marathons to go to another part of the country to get the flame for the Independence Torch back in their communities. There are many places the have a torch where other people from other towns can light their torch to bring back to their own communities. Of course, there are favorite destinations to get the Independence Flame and La Antigua Guatemala is one of them. All the different torches in different locations throughout Guatemala and their respective marathons build a web of people running in all different directions at the same time. It is a traffic nightmare and it is better to stay home on that date, unless you are running for your community to fetch the light for your torch.

By the way, these photos are taken with an extremely wide lens, within two or three feet from the runners. Sometimes I feel the adrenaline pumping as the big crowd comes running towards me.

Click the thumbnail below to see the slideshow. There’s full screen version as well.

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