El Día de las Velitas, Day of the Candles, December 7 Colombia

Celebrated in Colombia, El Día de las Velitas has been around since 1854 when Pope Pius IX defined as dogma the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.  This is the start of the Christmas season in Colombia and they bring it in with quite a celebration of lights.

Through out the country they put their own spin on how people recognize the day but fireworks as well as the traditional candles are set up.  I have included some video showing how some of the displays are very large and had for me to image setting them up and lighting all of those candles.

People decorate their houses and business making this the highlight of the decorations as well.  Cities and villages will even close off streets to allow people to wander and admire the lights.  Many places people stay up and party all night.

Some additional resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%ADa_de_las_Velitas

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.elcolombiano.com/proyectos/navidad2005/tradiciones/velitas1.htm&ei=h4vfTs_nFI-Ctges44H_Aw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDMQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DEl%2BD%25C3%25ADa%2Bde%2Blas%2BVelitas%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26prmd%3Dimvns