Chapaca Tradition Festival in Bolivia

The natives of Tarija are called Tarijeños or Chapacos. Historically, ethnically, economically and culturally, the Tarija region is closely related to the Southern Cone. In the second week of April of each year (having as center the 15th of April) the Fiesta de la Tarijeñidad or Fiesta de la Tradición Chapaca is celebrated since that date commemorates the Battle of La Tablada with which Tarija was liberated from the colonial yoke.

Inhabited by the jungle tribes of Chiriguanos and others, the viceroy Francisco de Toledo commissioned Luis de Fuentes to found the Villa de San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa to counteract the indigenous attacks.

Tarija" was chosen in honor of Bernardino de Tarixa, the first explorer of this region. In 1807 Salta annexed Tarija to its jurisdiction, provoking protests from the inhabitants.

On April 15, 1817 a decisive battle was fought in the fields of La Tablada de Tolomosa. The "montoneros", under the command of Eustaquio "Moto" Méndez, defeated the royalist army. In 1826 it was part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, until September 24, 1831.

On July 4, 1574, Captain Don Luis de Fuentes y Vargas founded the town of San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa, on the banks of the Guadalquivir River.

During the presidency of Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz, the department of Tarija was created by means of a Supreme Decree dated September 24, 1831.