In Imbabura, Otavaleños celebrate the best popular festival. Yamor this word is composed by two words Yak that means wise and Mur that means grain. The word Yamor is translated as the chicha of wisdom.
It is a cultural celebration qualified as “the happiest celebration in the most amiable city of the country”, in which the devotion to the Virgin Mary of Monserrate is conjugated year after year, linked with the gratitude to the Pacha Mama for the fecundity of the lands and for having made possible the harvests.
The festival was born in the Monserrat neighborhood, in the city of Otavalo, province of Imbabura, approximately in 1952, where traditionally it was celebrated to thank the Virgin Maria de Monserrat, Otavalo patron saint and Pacha Mama for the harvest of corn and the vivifying work of the Otavalo region.
In this celebration, typical dishes and drinks were offered, among which was the chicha del yamor. From 1953 it was institutionalized, being called the “Yamor” party.
This year the festivity will take place from August 30th to September 8th and tourists will be able to enjoy the Pregón de Fiestas, election and crowning of Reina del Yamor 2019, swimming traverse in San Pablo lake, National Music Festival in tribute of Marías, Festival of Remembrance (Festival del Recuerdo), Andean Music Festival, Motor racing 4×4, and a great variety of activities that the Yamor 2019 Executive Committee will develop in several stages of the city of Otavalo and the surrounding communities.