Fiestas del Pilar

The Fiestas del Pilar are an annual festival celebrated in the city of Zaragoza, Aragon, in honour of the patron saint of the city, the Virgen del Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar). The week long festival takes place every year, usually, beginning the weekend of or before 12 October, and lasts until the following Sunday. A wide variety of events are organized by the City Hall, with private companies and organizations organizing their own sponsored events, shows, contests, and other activities. While veneration of the Blessed Virgin in Zaragoza can be traced to at least the 12th century, the introduction of 12 October as the local feast day in remembrance of the Marian apparition was introduced by the city council in 1640, and approved by the Holy See in 1723. The national holiday of Spain, first introduced in 1918 and confirmed for the contemporary Spanish state in 1982, also falls on 12 October, chosen for the date of the discovery of the Americas (in the USA known as Columbus Day). The first Mass of the day, on October 12, is the Solemne Misa de Infantes, or Solemn Mass of Infants, celebrated in the Saint Chapel of the Basilica del Pilar, at 4.30 a.m. Despite the early hour, the Mass is extremely popular, and exceptionally well attended. This is the high point of the festival, and a demonstration of the people's devotion to the Virgin Mary. Throughout the day of 12 October, thousands of people dressed in traditional costume, leave flowers at the statue of the Virgin, which has a place of honour in the middle of the Plaza del Pilar. There, an army of volunteers arrange flowers in a pyramidal form, creating a flower mantle around the base of the statue, which remains in the square for the duration of the festival for public viewing. People can participate in the flower offering individually, or as a group. Typically, groups are organized by schools, companies, villages and other entities, and they organize their own parades around the local streets and neighborhoods ending up at the main square.