Festival del Tereré de Itakyry

Itakyry, in eastern Alto Paraná, is yerba mate country, and its festival honours tereré, the drink that defines Paraguayans and has its national day on the last Saturday of February. It is held at the municipal sports complex with an organizing committee, the municipality and the backing of CIOFF (the international council of folklore festivals). The week opens with the election of the Tereré Queen and continues with a parade along Avenida El Mensú and two festival nights with about fourteen music and dance groups from Paraguay, Argentina and Chile. There is also a cultural-exchange mass and a demonstration of colonial-style yerba mate making: leaf harvesting, drying on a barbacuá and grinding in a mortar, followed by a lunch of asado and sopa paraguaya.