Roaming South America

Areguá, Paraguay - home of the Strawberry Expo

July 24, 2026

Areguá, Paraguay - population of around 83,000, was founded in 1538. It sits at only 70 meters (230 ft) elevation. For whatever reason, in the wikipedia page it says "Areguá is thought to come from Classical Guarani (the language) ariguâ·r, meaning "person/people from above, from up there", refererring to the area's high altitude and its first inhabitants from the Mbya Guarani tribes. But, the English translation of the Spanish wikipedia page is not well done. Areguá's elevation is in relation to the lake, not elevated in the sense that anyone needs to acclimatize or bring an oxygen bottle. Lake Ypacaraí is roughly 64 meters above sea level, while my hostel is around 94 metres. The church and surrounding center of town are a bit higher, and a few neighborhoods are higher still. In Guaraní, ári refers to being above or on top, while -gua indicates origin or association with a place. The early Mbya inhabitants occupied the raised ground or loma alta west of the low-lying lake basin. Historical descriptions of the area actually use terms such as “loma de arriba” and “loma alta.” So they were “from above” relative to the lakeshore, wetlands, and surrounding basin, not relative to sea level.

UNESCO and a Strawberry Expo

In 2019, Areguá was designed as a city of crafts and folk arts by the UNESCO as part of its Creative Cities Network. And for good reason. You should check out the pics in my photo album, they show a few of the streets lined with ceramics and pottery venders, and they all make all of what you see here in town in their own homes and businesses. And the economy is not actually based on those arts and crafts, it's based on strawberry farming. And right now there are many venders selling not just beautiful red strawberries, but all kinds of products made with strawberries. People from all over the central region of Paraguay come here for those desserts and the arts and crafts. Every year, there's a 2-month long Strawberry Expo here in Areguá. They have some 500 families selling their strawberries from their farms. There is a great variety of products offered at the Areguá Expo. As of 2023, these include: normal and diet jams, liquors, cakes, juice, smoothies with and without milk, cocktails, mousse, pastafrolas, strawberries and whipped cream, piononos, bonbons, strawberry ice cream with manioc, empanadas, alfajores, fruit cups, strawberries on a stick bathed in chocolate, puddings and strawberry pulp in syrup.