Bolivia National Day

Bolivia National Day

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  1. 1825Independence declared
  2. 1809Chuquisaca uprising
  3. 1825Republic founded

The story behind the day

Bolivia celebrates Independence Day on 6 August, marking the 1825 declaration of independence after long wars against Spanish rule. The country was named for Simón Bolívar.

The day connects republican history with Bolivia's Indigenous majorities, regional identities and highland-lowland diversity. Official ceremony and folk culture often stand side by side.

Sucre, La Paz and cities across the country mark the day with parades, speeches, school events, music, dance and red-yellow-green flags.

  1. 20266 August 2026 · Thursday
  2. 20276 August 2027 · Friday
  3. 20286 August 2028 · Sunday
The flag
Bolivia flag

The Bolivian flag has red, yellow and green horizontal bands. Red is associated with sacrifice, yellow with mineral wealth and green with the land; the Wiphala is also an important Indigenous national symbol.

Bolivian Independence Day food reflects the Andean highlands — salteñas pastries, anticuchos heart skewers and the warming stews of the altiplano.

What to eat

SalteñaJuicy baked pastry filled with spiced beef or chicken stew — Bolivia's national breakfast pastry, eaten standing up.
AnticuchosSkewered beef heart marinated in cumin and garlic, grilled over coals — the street food of La Paz and every Bolivian city.
Pique machoChopped beef and sausage with chips, onion, tomato and a fried egg on top — the indulgent Bolivian party dish.
ChairoAndean soup with freeze-dried potato (chuño), beef, vegetables and barley — a warming altiplano highland stew.
SilpanchoBreaded beef on rice with potato, fried egg and tomato — the Cochabamba specialty and a Bolivian comfort food.
Api moradoHot purple corn drink thickened with starch, spiced with cinnamon and cloves — the traditional Bolivian morning drink.

What to drink

SinganiBolivian grape brandy distilled in the high altitude valleys — the national spirit of Bolivia.
Chicha moradaPurple corn drink — sweet and lightly spiced, consumed cold as a refreshment at Bolivian celebrations.
Mate de cocaCoca leaf tea — drunk to combat altitude sickness in La Paz at 3600 metres, freely available across Bolivia.
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Culture on National Day

Bolivian culture is among the most Indigenous of any South American country — Quechua and Aymara traditions, the Tiwanaku civilisation and the extraordinary highland landscape define a national identity unlike any other.

Oruro CarnivalUNESCO-listed Bolivian carnival — the Diablada devil dance and elaborate costumes in the world's most spectacular Andean festival.
Tiwanaku ruinsPre-Columbian ceremonial centre near Lake Titicaca — the heart of a civilisation that preceded the Incas by a thousand years.
Cholita wrestlingIndigenous Aymara women wrestlers in traditional bowler hats and full skirts — a spectacle unique to El Alto above La Paz.
Potosí silver historyThe Cerro Rico silver mountain — where Spanish colonial wealth was extracted by forced Indigenous labour for 200 years.