(On with the Countdown: 360 Days to Go) Santiago de Cuba: An Outstanding Place in the Caribbean
The Cuban capital of the Caribbean is presently holding its famous carnivals. This is the 345th edition of the most important popular party that takes place in the heroic city and the Excelencias Group invites you to read the opinion of Orlando Vergés Martínez, director of Santiago’s Casa del Caribe. This is what he writes:
It’s easy to perceive certain national essence in Santiago’s carnival, a principle that could also be valid when it comes to characterizing some of our most illustrious traditional popular festivals, such as the Sprees of Remedio, Chambas and Punta Alegre at the north center of the island, Bejucal’s in Havana or the carnivals in Manzanillo, just to mention some.
The point is that the people’s inventiveness is freely expressed in all of them, as it reaches out every element of the revelry.
So everything is superabundant in Santiago de Cuba’s carnival. The food, for instance, is full of tastes, aromas, colors and presentations that invite all of us. As for the cloth, the people get transformed and wear garments that they wouldn’t take in their daily life. The music becomes one: the carnival’s. All in all, everything changes, the normal order of life is subverted. Nothing matches the carnival; it’s the power of the people.
That’s the reason why they usually say that you get to know the true nitty-gritty of people during the fiestas.
Our apostle José Martí somehow mentioned it in “Other Chronicles on New York”:
“The way the people reveal themselves during their fiestas, joy and freedom showing their souls, it’s good to observe cities in days when rejoicing, an element of nature, sheds light on their loving, indifferent or barbarian characteristics.”
But there is an additional peculiarity in Santiago de Cuba, with special emphasis in the capital and linked to its historic roots and ethnic factors, which can hardly be found in the rest of the country and other sites in the Caribbean: there is carnival the whole year round because people in Santiago have it in their hearts.
I have already pointed it out: the people in Santiago are extrovert, live with open doors, outwards, and like no other Caribbean people.
This is an expression of the Caribbean identity, in other words, this behavior is kind of common among Caribbean people, but it reaches superlative levels in Santiago de Cuba and speaks of their character.
There are many common elements between our carnival and similar fiestas in the region. The list would include several names: Barranquilla’s carnival in Colombia, the one of Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic, Aruba’s, famous for its allegories and costumes, those taking place in the cities of Olinda, Recife and Bahía in the Brazilian northeast, just to mention some good examples.
They are all characterized by the power of the people, magic and fantasy, group and neighborhood rivalries, competition to gain attention, a universe of performances and styles that represent a seductive mystery.
Many Caribbean boldface names have studied the remarkable cultural value of these fiestas: carnival as an expression of resistance. That was how they were conceived and stand as the largest celebrations in the Caribbean.
The acclaimed researcher and Dominican folklorist Dagoberto Tejeda, when tackling this matters, stresses that carnivals are modern expressions of the cultural Cimarron spirit. This colleague is in the right and in our case, beyond the above-described elements, other signs speak of bucolic behavior. There are different, multiple and innumerable ways for people to play the leading role in the fiesta, it’s the perfect time to do it. It’s like they are all trying to make their own carnival.
Some people wear costumes to make fun of other people, or they simply want to have somebody else paying for their beer. Those who want to attract attention just make up monologues or performances to bring about laugh or reflection.
There is another phenomenon to be studied and Joel James, a remarkable researcher on Traditional Popular Culture and founder of the Caribbean House and Festivals of the Caribbean, pointed it out. I’m talking about the refrains and mass chorus that spontaneously come out in congas and make an uncommon chronicle on the latest social event that might have taken place in the city or country; sometimes as a critic.
It would also be interesting to study the group organization brought about by the carnival in the social context where it’s carried out. The truth is that, beyond the family being a relevant group in this fiesta, there are informal groups that play different roles, enhance our social universe and lead sociocultural developments, ephemeral but significant.
The groups respond to trade union affiliation, trades, economic precedence or status, sexual preferences, age brackets; they are made up of important reasons that, taken as a whole, make the carnival be unique and unrepeatable event. That’s another specific characteristic: every carnival is different.
I won’t go into other features that position Santiago’s carnival among the most outstanding events in the Caribbean region. Highly qualified people have given plenty of references on our carnival groups.
I believe that we have the only museum of the carnival in the country and numerous reasons justify this reality. Our streets still witness the parade by centenarian groups, founders of these celebrations: cabildos carabalíes Isuama and Olugo, La Tahona and congas with their unmistakable and infectious rhythm. The paseos andcomparsas – both traditional and recent – are part of the history of these neighborhoods and year in year out carry the dreams and aspiration of the people.
Describing the carnivals that take place in the Caribbean as good or bad would be a mistake. I even think that it would be inappropriate to compare them with other fiestas hold around the world. There are no good or bad carnivals, there are carnivals and with this motto, ours, like any other in the area, can be a benchmark of the behavior of the people.
