Loja & Southern Sierra
What's Happening in Loja and the Southern Sierra This Week?
November 9 – November 15, 2026
Loja becomes one of Ecuador's liveliest cultural cities this week as the XI International Festival of Living Arts opens on Thursday. The programme contains hundreds of performances, exhibitions, workshops, fairs and street activities, so this is a deliberately chosen route through the opening days rather than a complete catalogue. Several Friday and Saturday highlights overlap; the choices are identified clearly below.
Art, Theatre & Culture
November 9 · 11:00
Fragments
📍 Loja · Museo Puerta de la Ciudad
Three exhibitions make a useful early start to the week: Light and Colour in Dialogue with Watercolour, Retrospective: Clay and Memory and Fragments. Together they move from watercolour and light to ceramic memory and a more fragmented contemporary view.
View event details →November 10
Third International Circus Convention of Loja
📍 Loja · Parque Pucara
The circus convention begins before FIAVL's formal opening and brings training, exchange and public activity to Parque Pucará. It also sets the scene for the international and national circus galas later in the week.
View event details →November 12 · 11:00
Buddy Bears — Germany and Ecuador
📍 Loja · Parque Jipiro
The familiar Buddy Bears arrive in Jipiro as a colourful international exhibition connecting Germany and Ecuador. Their open-air setting makes this one of the easiest daytime festival stops for families and casual visitors.
View event details →November 12 · 11:00
Zombie Manifesto — Santiago Sanguineti
📍 Loja · Teatro Bolívar
Uruguayan playwright and director Santiago Sanguineti brings an international theatre selection to Teatro Bolívar, with a morning and an evening performance. The two showings make it possible to fit the production around the rest of the opening-day programme.
View event details →November 12 · 15:00
The Headless Priest — Opening Production
📍 Loja · Teatro Nacional Benjamín Carrión Mora
Cano Artes Escénicas opens the festival's main stage programme with a musical-theatre work built around the legend of the headless priest. It is the formal theatrical opening before the festival moves into Loja's streets and plazas.
View event details →November 12 · 08:00
Roots — Textile Sculptural Mural
📍 Loja · Foyer del Teatro Bolívar
The continuing Roots and Living Territories projects add installations, memory and public-space work to the festival between scheduled performances. They are worth keeping in mind when building a route through the city.
View event details →November 13 · 18:00
Negro — La Congregación Teatro
📍 Loja · Centro Cultural Alfredo Mora Reyes
Colombia's La Congregación Teatro presents one of Friday's principal international stage works. It begins at the same time as Bondi Beach, so this is a genuine choice rather than a pair that can be seen back to back.
View event details →November 13 · 18:00
Bondi Beach — Deus Ex Machina
📍 Loja · Teatro Bolívar
This German-Ecuadorian production gives Friday's programme another international perspective. It overlaps with Negro at 6:00 p.m.
View event details →November 13 · 20:00
Bettina Aust with the Loja Symphony Orchestra
📍 Loja · Teatro Nacional Benjamín Carrión Mora
German clarinettist Bettina Aust joins the Loja Symphony Orchestra and pianist Juan Castro for one of the week's strongest concert selections. It begins at the same time as the International Circus Gala.
View event details →November 13 · 20:00
International Circus Gala
📍 Loja · Plaza de la Cultura
The international gala brings the circus convention into a large public setting. It is Friday's open-air alternative to the simultaneous symphonic concert at the national theatre.
View event details →November 14 · 18:00
Three Holograms — National Dance Company
📍 Loja · Teatro Bolívar
The National Dance Company marks its 50th anniversary with Three Holograms. It is the first of Saturday's three selected stage and circus options.
View event details →November 14 · 20:00
The Place of the Other — La Congregación Teatro
📍 Loja · Teatro Nacional Benjamín Carrión Mora
La Congregación Teatro returns with a different Colombian production on Saturday evening. It gives audiences a second way to encounter the company after Friday's Negro.
View event details →November 14 · 20:00
National Circus Gala
📍 Loja · Plaza de la Cultura
Ecuadorian circus artists take over Plaza de la Cultura for the national gala. It runs at the same time as The Place of the Other, offering a public-space and family-facing alternative to the theatre.
View event details →November 15 · 11:00
Comet — Roser López Espinosa and Vorpommern Tanz An
📍 Loja · Centro Cultural Alfredo Mora Reyes
A Spanish-German dance collaboration brings two Sunday performances to the Alfredo Mora Reyes cultural centre. The morning and early-evening times make Comet flexible for families and festival visitors.
View event details →November 15 · 20:00
Dark Staircase — National Dance Company
📍 Loja · Teatro Nacional Benjamín Carrión Mora
The National Dance Company returns with Dark Staircase, a strong final selection for this weekly guide. FIAVL itself does not end here: performances and public activities continue through November 22.
View event details →Community & Traditions
November 12 · 18:00
Brushstrokes in Motion — FIAVL Opening Parade
📍 Loja · Fuerte Militar Cabo Minacho a Plaza San Francisco
FIAVL steps into the city with an opening parade from Cabo Minacho to Plaza San Francisco. This is the most public way to join opening day, with the route itself becoming part of the performance.
View event details →Concerts, Festivals & Entertainment
November 12 · 21:00
AU-D — FIAVL Concert
📍 Loja · Plaza San Sebastián
Plaza San Sebastián carries opening night into music. Ecuadorian rapper AU-D takes the first late slot, followed by Ángel Velásquez and His Orchestra for a second public concert.
View event details →November 13 · 22:30
Juan Gabriel Symphonic Tribute
📍 Loja · Plaza San Sebastián
The Loja Municipal Symphony Orchestra closes Friday night with a symphonic tribute to Juan Gabriel. The familiar repertoire and outdoor plaza setting give the day a popular, celebratory finish.
View event details →