The University of Wisconsin Colombian Badgers hosted a Día de las Velitas — the Day of the Little Candles — celebration at Union South at The Sett Thursday.
The celebration hosted over 250 attendees from the Madison community, which is a large increase compared to years prior, UW Colombian Badgers member Gina Barbos said on the organization’s Facebook page.
“Seven years ago we were less than 10 people celebrating el Dia de la Velitas Escondidos in a parking lot, tonight will be more than 250 sharing food, music and dancing with family and friends,” Barbosa said.
Día de las Velitas is a Colombian holiday that ushers in the beginning of the Christmas season, organizers said at the event. The celebration’s formation can be tied back to Pope Pius XI’s proclamation of the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, 1854, according to the New York Latin Culture Magazine. According to the site, Catholics lit rows of candles Dec. 7 in anticipation of the proclamation.
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Over the years, Día de las Velitas has also adopted a newfound meaning outside of religious significance, according to the UW Colombian Badgers. The holiday symbolizes a prevailing sense of long standing culture, as the celebration has lasted through multiple generations.
Further, the candles themselves represent the hope and faith in a bright future for the communities who light them, event organizers said.
UW Colombian Badgers collaborated with Wisconsin Union Directorate Cuisine, Music, and Wisconsin Union Dining and Hospitality to host the event.
The WUD has aimed to utilize the Union’s spaces and resources to highlight different cultures on campus, WUD Music Director Suneil Jurgensen said.
“This event was brought to us by UW Dining and Hospitality as an opportunity to use the Sett to highlight some more of the cultures on campus,” Jurgensen said. “Just looking around these 200 to 300 people it’s just amazing to see them all come together and provide them with the space and the resources that we have and hopefully we see an uptick in more of these.”
