Asunción CityParaguay travel guide
Itapé y el Santuario de la Virgen del PasoCundebuff · CC BY-SA 4.0
What's onItapé· Guairá
Patron saintFeatured

Virgen del Paso

Patron-saint festival · Itapé

18 decDecember
Directions

What it is

Guairá's largest religious festival: tens of thousands of pilgrims fulfilling vows travel to the shrine of the Virgen del Paso, whose new church was inaugurated in December 2025.

The district's patron is Saint Isidore the Farmer (May 15), but its biggest festival honors the Virgen del Paso, declared of national interest in 2025.

The fiesta patronal (patron saint's festival) is the biggest day of the year in every Paraguayan town. It honors the local patron saint or Virgin with a novena (nine days of prayer), a serenade on the eve, a main Mass and a procession with a brass band, firecrackers and flags. Then comes the secular side: a kermesse (village fair) on the plaza, karu guasu (a big communal feast), chipa (cheesy cassava bread) and sopa paraguaya (savory cornbread) at the food stalls, dancing, torín or Paraguayan-style bullfighting (the bull is never killed), jineteadas (rodeo-style bronc riding) and carreras de sortija (a horseback ring-lancing race). As a visitor, arrive early for the procession, be respectful during Mass, try the food cooked by the parish committees and ask for the program at the church: dates often shift to the nearest weekend.

Dates may shift to the nearest weekend.

What to see

Verified · sep 2026

Researched and reviewed in September 2026 with — sources. A second reviewer checked dates, coordinates and lodging. Hours and prices may change.