VIRGEN DE CAACUPÉ

During the Immaculate Conception, on December 8 and the following days, more than a million people come to the Caacupé shrine. They come on foot, by bicycle, on horseback or by ox-cart. It's the country's most impressive pilgrimage. Promeseros come to thank the Blue Virgin for a birth, a cure or a good harvest. Major processions also take place in the neighboring village of Tobatí, as well as in Encarnación, where the Virgen de Itacuá, protector of sailors on the Paraná River, is honored.