MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands: official reception to celebrate Chile's Independence Day

An evening all about Chile — the official residence lit up in the colors of the Chilean flag.

As is traditional in the Falklands, the Governor and the elected Legislative Assembly extended their congratulations and celebrated with great enthusiasm Chile's Fiestas Patrias, and in particular September 18, Independence Day.

“We wish our wonderful friends from Chile a very happy Chilean Independence Day,” was the message at Government House, where the Islands' Chilean community was invited to mark the anniversary of such a significant date, a celebration Chileans know as the Fiestas Patrias.

The Fiestas Patrias run over two days, September 18 and 19: the 18th commemorates the proclamation of the First National Government Junta in 1810, the starting point of Chile's emancipation from the Spanish empire, consolidated in 1818, while the 19th is marked as the “Day of the Glories of the Army.”

Culinary delights and a display of Chile's rich culture — music, song, dance, traditional dress, and the country's origins and achievements — marked an evening in which the Falklands highlighted the close and long-standing ties “we proudly share with Chile and with the Chilean community of the Islands.”

That community, it was noted, “has contributed with fortitude and hard work to the development and consolidation of the Falklands.”

To mark the occasion, Government House, the residence of the Governor of the Falklands, was lit up at sunset in the colors of the Chilean flag.