Party like a Local
By: Jack Laub
Midsummer Carnival in Cuba:
Carnival, parade, drum, sing, party in the streets, celebrate life! All of these words carry excitement, and represent what the mid-summer festivals mean to Cubans. A time to celebrate themselves, celebrate life, and most importantly their culture. Why did this come about?
“Celebrations based on a religious pretext were always, at least in the case of the larger festivals, lacking in the liturgical character they were originally intended to have. From the written and oral sources, it seems that the so-called Days of [Saints]St. John, St. Peter…..were merely generic names which stood for days of public jubilation and diversion, totally lacking in the theological or liturgical meaning which it was convenient to feign, above all, during the days of the colonial government.” (Pérez, Nancy. 1988. El Carnaval Santiaguero, Tomo I. Santiago de Cuba: Editorial Oriente, found online at wiki)
In the city of Santiago, the Cuban carnival was born. Called mamarrachos to distinguish itself from the European celebrations around the same time, June 24th through July 26th. Midsummer signifies, for them, not only the rise of the religious holidays, but an excuse to celebrate them. Often inappropriate and rowdy, locals love to hit the streets to taste local fare, proving a good season to for restaurateurs and food truck owners. Carnival is most importantly a celebration of culture. Cuba has been labeled “multicultural” by its former colonial masters for more than a hundred years, and is carnival is a time for one to see, touch, taste, smell, and feel the diversity within the citizens parading down side streets, spilling into public parks. Tourists often aren’t given a proper warning of the parties ahead, therefore if you do stumble upon a parade of this sort, nudity and drug abuse are farm from absent. This is a time for earned money to be spent, family reunions, masked balls, drumming, and most importantly vendor sales. Whether they are selling food or not, months of preparation is required for vendors to spice up their wares. Large paper Mache heads, masks, or street performers are used to attract tipsy crowds, money practically falling out of their pockets.
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