Ñandutí / Out and About / Pilar, Ñeembucú
Pilar marks 247 years with a midnight festival for 15,000 people
The capital of Ñeembucú celebrated its founding anniversary and its patron saint on the same day, with music in the main square and processions through town.
Diego Ayala, sport and travel reporter
· 2 min read
- 1Founded 12 October 1779
- 2About 15,000 people at the midnight festival
- 3Plaza de los Héroes, Pilar
The city of Pilar, capital of the southern department of Ñeembucú, celebrated 247 years since its founding on Monday. About 15,000 people gathered in the Plaza de los Héroes to welcome the anniversary at midnight.1
Pilar was founded on 12 October 1779 by Pedro Melo de Portugal y Villena. The date is also the feast of the city's patron saint, Our Lady of the Pillar, so the anniversary always combines civic events with religious ones.1
Music first, then processions
The first night's festival featured local groups Pilar Vive and Meketrefes and the Mexican band Gigantes de México. On Monday the programme moved to a dawn rosary at the Ñeembucú governor's office, a procession of the image of the Virgin to the Minor Basilica and a series of masses, with the main celebration in the afternoon.1
Local businesses reported a strong flow of visitors over the long weekend.1
Where this came from
Diego Ayala checked this story against the sources below. Numbers in the text point to them.
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Diego Ayala · Diego follows Paraguayan football, motorsport and endurance races from the banks of the Paraná.