Send Flowers to Quillacollo, Bolivia

Every August, Quillacollo becomes the destination of one of Bolivia's great pilgrimages. The feast of the Virgen de Urkupiña, centred on 15 August, brings dancers, brass bands and huge crowds of devotees to this town a short drive west of Cochabamba, and flowers pile up around the church of San Ildefonso and on the Calvario hill.

Outside the festival Quillacollo is a busy commercial town tied to Cochabamba by Avenida Blanco Galindo, with markets, workshops and family homes in neighbourhoods old and new. Emigrants from here are numerous in Spain, Argentina and the United States, and many send flowers to Quillacollo as a thank-you to parents or as an offering promised to the Virgin. A valley florist delivers the same day, Monday to Saturday, if you order before 11:00 am local time, and the following day for later orders, Sundays excepted. During the Urkupiña days streets close for the parades, so book ahead and include a phone number.

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