Summary Four-day Carnival of Oruro in Bolivia started on Saturday with much fanfare and feasts.
The Carnival of Oruro will be marked by folk dances, parades and more cultural and religious activities. Dancers from various groups performed during the carnival parade on Saturday in Oruro.
The Carnival celebrations in this Andean mining city already rival Brazil s Rio de Janeiro for colour and culture, if not for size.
Now Oruro has erected a huge statue of the Virgin Mary that s a little taller than Rio s famed Christ the Redeemer.
Oruro formally dedicated the new statue as it kicked off its Carnival celebrations, which have been recognized as part of the patrimony of humanity by UNESCO.
The Virgin of Socavon is almost 150 feet (45 metres) high — a shade shorter than New York s Statue of Liberty and 23 feet (seven meters) higher than Rio s image of Christ. It s built of cement, iron and fiberglass to withstand the fierce winds of the high plain.
"If Rio has its Christ and its Carnival, Oruro has its Carnival, and now it has the Virgin. We re complete," said Virginia Barrios, a neighbourhood leader.
She said construction of the statue cost $1.2 million and took four years.
During Carnival each year, more than 30,000 people dance in procession through the streets, some in elaborate costumes, and brass bands blare. They honour the Virgin of Socavon, the patron saint of the city of roughly 250,000 people.
