Cuenca is heading into its festa season with a mix of food, art and oddly futuristic cemetery tech — and several of these events are worth planning a visit around.

First, the food. Hogar Cristo Rey, a home for seniors, is selling colada morada on a Saturday from 11:00 at Plaza San Francisco, as part of the traditional night route during the fiestas de Cuenca organised by Olympic walking champion Jefferson Pérez. A litre of the spiced purple corn drink costs $3.50, a glass $1.00, and guaguas de pan (the sweet dough babies baked for Día de los Difuntos) go for $0.50. Proceeds fund care for the home's residents. If you've never tried colada morada — a thick, warm brew of black corn, fruits and spices — this is the season it appears all over Ecuador, and buying a glass beats hunting down a recipe.

Over at Parque San Blas, 20 sculptures of Andean (spectacled) bears form the Ukumari exhibit, El Jardinero del Bosque. The show highlights the bear's ecological role in forests and páramos, where it spreads seeds and helps regenerate vegetation. It was due to move on to the Jardín Botánico de Cuenca, so check which site it's at before you go. Meanwhile, on Calle Santa Ana, the seventh Arte Circular exhibition turns old tyres, electronics and battery materials into works themed around Ecuador's plants, animals and landscapes — eight pieces on the street plus four large ones at Nuhaus. Entry is free but pre-registration is required, and it runs until 24 October.

Practical note if Turi is on your list: the main road up has been closed after a sinkhole appeared, blamed on earth movement from construction of a shopping centre below. Repairs — stabilising piles and three stepped retaining walls — are planned, but for now reach the famous Turi lookout via the vía a El Tablón and the access near the Turi jail.

The strangest story of the week: Cuenca's Patrimonial Cemetery is adding AI. From November, the cemetery will recreate 25 of the more than 118 notable people buried there, letting visitors converse with digital versions of historical figures via expanded QR codes, with the full rollout due by 2027. It's part of a push to turn the cemetery into a hub of historic memory and culture. For Día de los Difuntos (30 October to 2 November), expect night walks with theatre, open-air movies, a lantern night, serenades, visual projections and an outdoor Mass at 10:00 on 2 November — the cemetery stays open until midnight those nights. There's also the Cuenca Pet 2026 fair at Hotel Oro Verde (60 brands, from 8:30) if you're travelling with, or just fond of, animals.

Why care? Cuenca packs colonial plazas, a lively cultural calendar and genuinely unusual experiences — like chatting with resurrected historical figures in a cemetery — into a walkable, affordable city. The Día de los Difuntos period is arguably its most atmospheric time to visit.