Last night during the calm after a torrential downpour everyone lined the streets of Popayan to place thousands of candles out on the pavements and hang lanterns on the trees. The whole city had a dream like quietness as it flickered in the dark.

The 7th of December in Colombia is called ‘el Día de las Velitas’ (day of the little candles) and is also the start of the Christmas season. The Colombians place candles and lanterns all over their cities to honour the Virgin Mary and her immaculate conception.

Some pictures are quite blurry as they were taken in a moving car…