The night of the lights

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For the last five years every December there is one night when many, many Uruguayans get together at “the rambla” at night. This is due to “La noche de las luces” or night of the lights, a big event organized by Coca Cola which consists of a small parade and a fireworks display.The fireworks only last about 15 minutes but it seems to be well worth it for everybody because years pass and hundreds of thousands keep coming to see this from all neighborhoods in Montevideo. They take buses or walk but somehow they manage to get there to watch.

The Rambla is full of “carros de chorizo”, which are basically food stalls that sell hot dogs, hamburgers and chorizos (sausage). You can see these silver mobile restaurants all around the city and they are quite popular. In order to meet the demands of all these hungry people, they all seem to come to where the night of the lights is held.

The small parade takes place at around 6 pm and everybody has to wait until it gets really dark at about 10 pm to see the show. The spectacular display of fireworks begins on time and people shout when the first ones explode. Then there is silence for a while and only at the end you can start hearing people again when the fantastic show finishes with the biggest fireworks they ever saw.



When people have to leave this awe-inspiring show and return to their houses a little bit of chaos arises. Buses waiting for them to get on, crowds of people walking in front of the buses not letting them move. I guess this is the downside of the event, but somehow they manage to leave and about midnight the streets have been cleared of people, and cars can circulate again.

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