Diane: I had seen castillos in Cuenca - large structures erected for the sole purpose of launching fireworks, generally surrounded by large, admiring crowds. These castillos had been 3 or 4 stories high. Each story would launch separately, starting at the ground level working up to the very top. It was all very dramatic, with the most exciting bit saved for the finale. But in Ayacucho, the castillos were far larger and more elaborate with 8, 9, and 10 stories.
Bands played as they set off fireworks. The risk-takers in the crowd, danced within 20 feet of these structures. The rest of the crowd hung back a bit, so as not to get singed by flying sparks. And every few minutes, we were taken by surprise as a new creative display lit up the sky.
To bring this pyrotechnic display more in synch with the sacred nature of the week, most of these castillos included some sort of religious iconography.
By 2 a.m., there were still plenty of unlit castillos adorning the plaza. It was becoming clear that this would go on all night. We went back to our hostal to sleep a couple of hours, before the final pre-dawn Easter procession. We returned to the plaza before dawn to find piles of burning aromatic sticks and a mass being conducted inside the cathedral. The last monumental float sat inside the cathedral holding thousands of unlit candles.
They were still firing off castillos. We watched with thousands of other Peruvians, as they set off a couple more magnificent displays. We did not stay to see the final float paraded around the plaza, as the crowd had grown to crushing proportions and we were exhausted.
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