SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Many Americans kick off the Christmas season when it's still November by going shopping on Black Friday. In Colombia, people take a little longer to get into the Christmas spirit, but when they do, as they did last night in the capital city of Bogota, they play with fire. Here's reporter John Otis.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMMING)
JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: Street drummers provide the soundtrack as people make their way to Bolivar Plaza, the main square in downtown Bogota. A giant Christmas tree lights up and fireworks explode.
(SOUNDBITE OF FIREWORKS EXPLODING)
OTIS: And just about everywhere, street vendors are hawking candles.
UNIDENTIFIED VENDOR: (Yelling in non-English language).
OTIS: This is the Night of the Little Candles, which officially opens the Christmas season in Colombia. Families gather in their homes or in public parks and squares, where they light candles and spend hours staring into their mesmerizing flames.
There are hundreds of families sitting on the ground, lighting candles and watching them burn down and just enjoying the evening.
The Night of the Little Candles began in Colombia the 1800s as a way to honor and symbolically light a path for the Virgin Mary, ahead of the immaculate conception. Although most Colombians are Catholic, Alba Carvajal, who's here in the plaza with her husband, says the ceremony has become more secular.
ALBA CARVAJAL: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: "If someone is sick, we ask through these candles that they get better," she says. "Or if someone is in economic trouble, we make a wish that they get a job."
NELIA HERRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: Nearby, Nelia Herrera is methodically putting a cigarette lighter to scores of candles, then relighting them when the wind blows them out.
HERRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: So she's saying she's going to light 100 candles, 10 for each member of her family.
(Speaking Spanish).
HERRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: (Speaking Spanish).
HERRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: Herrera goes on to explain the different colors of the candles.
So the white candles are for peace. The green ones are for prosperity. (Speaking Spanish).
HERRERA: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: The red ones are for love.
All this can get quite messy. I'm constantly stepping in warm puddles of melted wax. Firefighters urge Colombians to keep a close eye on their kids and to find safe places to light their candles. Not everyone listens.
GUSTAVO BELTRAN: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: Gustavo Beltran, who's placed a dozen candles right next to the polished stone walls and wooden door of the Bogota cathedral, says he was scolded by a church security guard, but he didn't blow them out. To prevent accidents, authorities now distribute plastic LED candles. But judging by the many thousand points of smoky light here in Bolivar Plaza, Colombians prefer the real thing. For NPR News, I'm John Otis in Bogota.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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