Customs, Entertainment, and Holidays

•  These are the permanent holidays, 1-1 New Years Day, 5-1 Labor Day, 5-21 Battle of Iquique, 6-28 Sts Peter and Paul, l8-15 Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary, 9-18 Independence Day, 9-19 Army Day, 10-12 Dia de la Raza, 11-1 All Saints Day, 12-8 Immaculate Conception, 12-25 Christmas Day, and 12-31 Bank Holiday.  The following holidays are movable, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Corpus Christi, and Easter.

• Independence Day is a spirited day celebrated with rodeos and parties.  Christmas, however, is a peaceful, quiet time for the family.  Other celebrations in towns include La Tirana, a joyful loud celebration to show thanks to Virgin Mary.  On Easter, people wear colorful clothing and watch contests and parades.

• One unique custom of Chile is chueca, a popular game played by the Mapuche Indians very similar to field hockey.  Another custom is la fiesta huasa, which is a Chilean rodeo.  After every Easter, there is a special celebration with parades and colorful clothing.  Also, there is a very popular sport called steer wrestling.  This is a test of skill where to mounts try to pin a steer, winning various points for the type.  Also, Chileans enjoy skiing, soccer, running, and biking.

• The Araucanian Indians wear wool robes down a little beyond the knee.  They wear their hair long.  Most other Indians also wear wool clothing.

	This a picture of an Mapuche woman.
	This is a picture of a Chilean boy.

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