Barranquilla's Carnival

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Barranquilla's Carnival
Carnaval de Barranquilla
Baile de la Cumbia - Barranquilla.jpg
Folkloric groups dancing at the carnival
Official name Carnaval de Barranquilla
Observed by Various locales, usually ones historically associated with Catholic
populations.
Type Local, cultural, catholic
Significance Celebration prior to fasting season of Lent.
Celebrations Parades, parties, orchestras festival
Date Four days before Ash Wednesday
2021 date February 13 –
February 16
2022 date February 26 –
March 1
2023 date February 18 –
February 21
2024 date February 10 –
February 13
Frequency Annual
Related to Carnival SZ + ADP
Carnival of Barranquilla
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
Country Colombia
Reference 00051
Region Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription 2003
List Representative
Unesco Cultural Heritage logo.svg
The Carnival of Barranquilla (Spanish: Carnaval de Barranquilla) is one of
Colombia's most important folkloric celebrations, and one of the biggest carnivals
in the world. The carnival has traditions that date back to the 19th century. Four
days before Holy Week, Barranquilla decks itself out to receive national and
foreign tourists to join together with the city's inhabitants to enjoy four days of
intense festivities. During the carnival, Barranquilla's normal activities are put
aside as the city gets busy with street dances, musical and masquerade parades. The
Carnival Of Barranquilla includes dances such as the Spanish paloteo, African
Congo, and indigenous mico y micas. Many styles of Colombian music are also
performed, most prominently cumbia, and instruments include drums and wind
ensembles. The Carnival of Barranquilla was proclaimed a Cultural Masterpiece of
the Nation by Colombia's National Congress in 2002.[1] Also the UNESCO, in Paris on
November 7, 2003, declared it one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity, and it was during Olga Lucia Rodriquez Carnival Queen year.

The Carnival starts on the Saturday before the Ash Wednesday with the Battle of the
Flowers (La Batalla de Flores), which is considered one of the main activities.
Then, The Great Parade (La Gran Parada) on Sunday and Monday is marked by an
Orchestra Festival with Caribbean and Latin bands. Tuesday signals the end of the
carnival, announced by the burial of Joselito Carnaval, who is mourned by everyone.

Barranquilla's Carnival slogan is: Those who live it are those who enjoy it (Quien
lo vive, es quien lo goza).

Contents
1 History
1.1 Chronology
2 Pre-Carnivals
2.1 The Reading of the Carnival Proclamation
2.2 The Crowning of the Carnival Queen
2.3 The Children Parade
2.4 La Guacherna
3 Events
3.1 Saturday of Carnival
3.2 Sunday of Carnival
3.3 Monday Of Carnival
3.4 Shrove Tuesday
4 Venues
4.1 Verbenas
4.2 Donkey Rooms
5 Music and Dancing
6 Costumes and dances
7 Queens of the Carnival
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
History

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Very little is known about exactly how and why this carnival began. There are many
theories; the most popular belief is that the carnival is the welcoming of spring
and a celebration of birth and renewal. The carnival originates from a combination
of pagan ceremonies, catholic beliefs and ethnic diversity and is a mixture of the
European, African and Indian traditions, dances and music. It was at first a
holiday for slaves, and grew to be a celebration of the region.

Local beliefs date it back seven centuries and it is known that a great deal of the
traditions were brought to America by the Spanish and Portuguese. The first notable
date in the Carnival's history is 1888, when a figure known as King Momo appeared
in the documented history of the Carnival. In 1903, the first known battle of the
flowers was recorded, apparently to recover a long lost carnival tradition and,
fifteen years later, the first Barranquilla's Carnival's queen was chosen to
preside over the festivities of the carnival, which was later institutionalised in
1923. In the years that followed the carnival grew and so did the traditions,
including the integration of the great parade.

Chronology
1888: King Momo emerged as one of the main characters.
1899: The first President of the Carnival and the first Board of directors were
elected.
1903: The first Battle of Flowers parade (Spanish: Batalla de las Flores) (due to
Heriberto Bengoechea's initiative in order to recover the carnival tradition of the
previous years, as well as to celebrate the end of the One Thousand Days War
( Spanish: Guerra de los Mil Dias).)
1918: Alicia Lafaurie Roncallo elected as the first Carnival Queen.
1923: The Carnival was institutionalised, since the queen contest had been
cancelled for the 5 previous years.
1967: The Great Parade event was introduced. It now takes place on the second day
of the carnival, usually on Sundays.
1969: The Orchestra Festival was created, which is a musical competition ranging
over various genres.
1974: The first Guacherna took place due to Esther Forero's initiative. The
Guacherna is now celebrated on the previous week Friday before the carnival
formally starts.
2002: The Carnival was declared as a National Culture Heritage by the Colombian
Senate
2003: The Carnival was proclaimed by UNESCO on November 7, as one of the
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Pre-Carnivals

Congo dancing group.

A costume.
The festivities, which are presided over by both the carnival queen and the Momo
King elected the previous year, starts non-officially just after the New Year's
Eve. The pre-carnival events begins officially with the Lectura del Bando (The
reading of the Carnival Proclamation), followed by la toma de la ciudad (The taking
Of the city), the crowning of the Carnival Queen and the Momo King, the children
parade, the gay parade and finally La Guacherna, a nocturnal parade regarded as the
most important pre-carnival event.

The Reading of the Carnival Proclamation

The reading of the Carnival Proclamation is one of the most important
Barranquilla's pre-Carnival events, because it officially marks the beginning of
the pre-Carnivals. In this act, which takes place traditionally at La Paz Square,
the current Barranquilla mayor symbolically grants the keys of the city to the
carnival queen, hence "ceding" their power to her for as long as the carnival
season lasts. This proclamation may be seen as a "decree" divided into paragraphs
that explains what is permitted and what is forbidden for the attendants during the
period of celebration. Each paragraph includes recent and gripping happenings of
the city that incentivise the revelry. It is read publicly by the queen during a
folkloric act accompanied by the Momo King, the children kings and displays of
folkloric dance groups.

La Paz Square, where traditionally the Carnival proclamation is carried out.

The Crowning of the Carnival Queen
It is carried out on the previous Thursday to the Battle of flowers parade. During
this show, the previous carnival queen crowns the current carnival queen, amid a
party with full of dancing and music. It is currently held at the Romelio Martinez
Stadium. Nevertheless, the crowning act dates back from 1918 when the first
carnival queen, Alicia Lafaurie Roncallo, was crowned at the disappeared
Barranquilla Club. Ever since the tradition of electing the carnival queen among
upper-class young women of the city to preside over the festivities have been
maintained, which has made commonplace to see, read and hear how the crown has been
only rotated among a few families: Gerlein, Donado, Vengoechea, Lafaurie o
Abuchaibe. This tradition is mainly because a large part of the spendings, for
instance those related to the attire worn by the queen during her crowning, are
paid by the queen's family. This undoubtedly has been criticised since non-upper-
class young women cannot aspire to hold the queen title due to the astronomically
high sums of money that costs to be the carnival queen. Nevertheless, according to
the official call statement, the candidate crowned as the carnival queen is that
one showing excellent dancing skills, charisma and carnival spirit to the 11
members of the carnival board, who privately meet annually and elect the queen six
months before the beginning of the carnival.

As for the show, it is a marathon of dancing styles, and it has become the most
demanding test for the carnival queen over time, because during which the carnival
queen has to demonstrate her dancing skills by gracefully dancing a myriad of
musical genres, such as cumbia, salsa, merengue, champeta, mapalé, etc. This show
is accompanied by members from some of the most important dancing groups
participating in the carnival and by national and international singers, as the
Dominican Juan Luis Guerra who made part of it in the 2014 carnivals. Also, during
this event, the official song of the carnival queen is presented. By the way, the
Carnival Queen is usually selected in October so that she has enough time to
prepare for the Carnival.

The Children Parade

Desfile del Carnaval de Los Niños is a parade for children in which school and
community dancing groups participate as well as the children kings. In this parade,
mini-floats adapted to the size of the children are seen.

La Guacherna

Esthercita Forero's statue, who recovered the La Guacherna's Tradition.

La Guacherna is a nocturnal parade and is considered as the most important pre-
carnival event. It takes place on the previous week Friday before the beginning of
the carnival. Many folkloric groups, cumbiambas, tamboras, disguises to the light
of candles and people holding color lanterns participate in it.

La Guacherna unofficially started as early as the beginnings of the 20th century in

barrio Abajo. In its beginnings, during the pre-carnival days, people used to call
others by playing a guache (percussion instrument producing a similar sound to that
of a maraca) to signal the commencement of dancing, which was accompanied by
tamboras and flauta de millo as well as by candles to illuminate the night, making
the surrounding people joyful. In 1974, this tradition was recovered thanks to the
music composer Esthercita Forero's initiative, who, along with Alicia de Andréis,
achieved to make the carnival board introduce it in the carnival program. This
parade did not exist formally until that year and it was named as La Guacherna
after its creator, Esther forero.

The idea of bringing about such a nocturnal parade in the Barranquilla's Carnival
dates back to a night in 1958, when Esther forero was at a nocturnal parade in
Santiago de Cuba, prompting her to ask around among folklorists about it the
following days and hence learning that the parade, named as La Conga Parade, came
to existence after many small groups had been gathering from across Santiago de
Cuba Province over time. She then remembered that her city, Barranquilla, did not
have a nocturnal parade in its carnivals, therefore as soon as she came back to her
city, she decided to achieve to bring about a similar parade and then named it as
La Guacherna - that name originated from a memory she had back her childhood of
when cumbia groups would go out on the streets to rehearse their rhythms and the
surrounding people would say a Guacherna was passing by. In short, that great
nocturnal parade was created in 1974 and still exists as a great and brightly
nocturnal parade.[2]

The insignia song of this date is the merengue song with the same name "La
Guacherna", a composition by Esthercita Forero herself, and whose most known
version is that of the Dominican Milly Quezada.

Events
The carnival is celebrated during the four days before the ash wednesday. People
party widely and get disguised as an act of fun and a lack of inhibition.[3] During
this time, Barranquilla people and foreigners coming in the city submerse
themselves in the collective joy, drinking and dancing.

Saturday of Carnival

The carnival queen during the Battle of Flowers.

The Saturday before Ash Wednesday is the first full day of Carnival activities. The
celebration starts off firmly with the Battle of Flowers, which is the most
important and most expected event. It is a great parade of floats, headed by the
Carnival queen and followed by folkloric groups, disguises, cumbia groups and other
dancing groups, winners of the last carnival's competitions. It is the local
version of Pasadena's Rose Parade in the United States. The Battle of Flowers is
the oldest parade carried out in the Barranquilla Carnival, and was organised for
the first time in 1903 thru General Heriberto Arturo Vengoechea's initiative. The
general who was looking for a way to celebrate the end of the long Thousand Days
War that had claimed thousands of lives. With this event, the carnival resumed as
it had been suspended since 1900.

Initially, the Battle of Flowers was a stroll along the old "Camellón Abello", now
Paseo de Bolívar, that opened two groups of people formed by members of rich
families on carriages decorated with flowers.[4] The historian and chronicler
Alfredo de la Espriella described the first battle of flowers as a game in that two
groups of people got confronted each other by shooting flowers, plastic party
streamers and confetti along a course extending a few miles. This battle finished
with a peace gesture when both groups reconciled and went on to celebrate at
Emiliano Vengoeachea theatre. Its success was such that the same battle was
repeated the next year.[5]

It has been taking place along Highway 40 since 1991, after having taken place
along Olaya Herrera avenue, 43rd Street and Bolivar Boulevard. The floats now are
equipped with loudspeakers and boarded by international and national singers who
invites the spectators to celebrate and dance. Although the spectators are now
accommodated in palcos (boxes), from where they watch the spectacle, they used to
watch it on foot.

Sunday of Carnival
It is the second day of Carnival. The most important event carried out on this day
is: The great tradition and folklore parade (Gran parada de tradición y folclore).
[6]

This parade, commonly called as the great parade, is carried out on the second day
of Carnival and was introduced in 1967. Only traditional folkloric groups, cumbia
groups, and dancing groups participate in it. Also, it takes place along the Vía 40
avenue too, but there are no floats participating in it. This parade shows the
dance and the music in their more traditional essence since there are no floats
neither high loudspeakers present in it. For the year of 2013, around 300 dancing
groups were counted as participants. The dancing groups participating in this
parade are the ones called as popular dancing groups, such as Caimán Cienaguero,
Negritas Puloy and others as that of the devil harlequins. The music also,
therefore, shows its most conservative facet, being cumbias, chandés - associated
with the Garabato dancing group- and fandangos -associated with the Marimondas
dancing group-, the musical genres most heard.

Monday Of Carnival
It is the third day of Carnival. The two most important events carried out on this
day are: The Great Fantasy Parade and the Orchestras Festival.

The Great Fantasy Parade

Fantasy dancing group parading.

It therefore shows innovating choreographic mixtures fluctuating from the most
traditional, through the local, to the international by blending international
rhythms, such as samba, salsa, reggaeton, champeta and electronic music with other
local ones such as cumbia, porro, mapalé and merecumbé. This event attracts
renewing proposals searching for an space in the carnival. The success of a fantasy
dancing group could have a renewing meaning to the carnival itself, enriching it
and helping in its development. Over time, this parade has become one of the most
attended events of the carnival.

Orchestras Festival

Orchestras Festival 2007. Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz Presentation.

It is a concert featuring many national and international musical ensembles, and
was created in 1969. It normally starts at the early Monday afternoon lasting until
the early Tuesday morning. In this festival, the participating musical ensembles
compete for the coveted award called Congo De Oro in different categories. As a
rule, each musical ensembles should perform three songs and at least one of them
should be dedicated, in their content, to the city of Barranquilla. This event
currently takes place at the Romelio Martínez Stadium. The following are the
categories in which the musical ensembles vie for obtaining the Congo de Oro prize:

Tropical. Generic term referring to musical ensembles with both a popular orchestra
format and a folkloric format that perform typical musical genres from the
Caribbean region and the Barranquilla's Carnival such as cumbia, porro, fandango,
chalupa, mapalé and others.
Vallenato. Term referring to musical ensembles performing Vallenato and its many
variations (Paseo, Son, Merengue, Puya, new trending ones), played with accordion,
caja and guacharaca as main instruments.
Salsa. Term referring to musical ensembles performing the diverse West Indian
musical genres such son cubano, son montuno, pachanga, guaguancó, boogaloo, bomba,
plena, mambo, cha-cha-chá, latin jazz and others.
Merengue. Term referring to musical ensembles performing musical genres coming out
of Dominican Republic and the Caribbean such as merengue, house, ragga, and others.
Urban music. Term referring to musical ensembles performing "new styles" of urban
music, such as champeta, reggaetón, hip hop, rap, dancehall and others.
Rescuing the ours. Generic term referring to musical ensembles performing typical
folkloric music such as cumbia, porro, fandango, chalupa, mapalé and others.
Likewise, special prizes are given to the best instrumentalists and the best
singers of the contest.

Shrove Tuesday
This the fourth and the last day of Carnival. It is marked by the death of Joselito
Carnaval, and marks the conclusion of the festivities. As a closing salvo to the
events, the burial of Joselito Carnaval is held citywide, a local counterpart to
the popular Spanish tradition of the entierro de la sardina performed in Spain to
close out Carnival. On this day, many funny burials of Joselito are carried out
across the city. This character symbolises the joy of the carnival. It is said that
this character "resuscitates" on Carnival Saturday and "dies" the last day, tired
and drunken, to again be revived for the next carnival. In this way, thousands of
Barranquilla persons go out on the streets to cry the deceased with play-acting.
Joselito Carnaval may be either a real person or a dummy, and it is used to be
transported either within a coffin or stretches decorated with flowers and
surrounded by its crying widows – these crying widows may be men disguised as women
–. In addition to widows, there may be seen other characters as priests and
orphans. It is uncertain of this character's origins. Since 1999, the Barranquilla
Carnaval Foundation holds the "Joselito se va con las cenizas" contest to encourage
more groups to join in this celebration and in which the best portrayal of the day,
as well as the winning cast, are awarded after a long day of events. The official
group of mourners includes the current Carnival Queen and her princesses and
marches first before the community mourners' performances, which are presented
before a panel of judges.

In the night, a jocose meeting is celebrated either at Abajo neighborhood or at La

Paz square, in which litanies, with simple verses and their characteristic
intonation, are recited with the aim of making either a comment or a critique on
current affairs.
Venues

Verbena at the Barranquilla's Carnival

The main Venue of the Carnival is the Vía 40, which is an industrial avenue where
the Battle of Flowers (Saturday), the Great Parade (Sunday) and The Great Fantasy
Parade (Monday) take place. Other venues are the 17 road (The King Momo Parade),
the 44 road (Guacherna), the Romelio Martínez stadium (Orchestras festival, The
queen crowning), La Paz square (the Proclamation reading), as well as verbenas and
closed dancing rooms featuring live music, to which a ticket must be bought for
accessing. Most of the parades can be viewed for free, but it's a good idea to buy
a ticket to one of the bleacher seats for better views.[7]

Verbenas
They are open, free-access spaces, where people can dance, eat and enjoy themselves
with different activities. Verbenas are presumed to have appeared as early as the
beginnings of the 20th century when surprise-visiting a residence by friends was a
common activity. These surprise-visits should be assumed completely and without any
hesitation by the owner of the residence as a rendezvous point for making a party.
These carnival dancing encounters were commonplace in the middle-upper and upper
class and were a spread activity until the official appearance of dancing rooms
hosted by nightclubes and hotels.[8] Some popular verbenas are:[9]

El Bambú, at the Olaya neighborhood, .

Polvorín, at the San José neighborhood.
A Pleno Sol, at the La Unión neighborhood.
La Gustadera, at the Las Nieves neighborhood.
La Puya loca, at the Los Pinos neighborhood.
Donkey Rooms
These were semi-open, free access rooms where people met to dance and enjoy
themselves. That particular, curious name came from the fact people used to leave
their donkeys tied to a post outside the room just before entering.

Music and Dancing

The music consists of a mixture of cumbia, porro, mapale, gaita, chandé, puya,
fandango, and fantastic merecumbés. These are examples of many styles of Colombian
music. It is a party that gathers up tradition based on the creativity of the
Colombian people, being expressed by a lot of forms of dancing, music, and by
donning different costumes. This diversity gives it a character of unique,
unrivalled party, in which the people are the main protagonists. Every dance, every
folkloric group, and every custome plays different roles to make it the best show
on earth.

The Barranquilla Carnival is multicultural, diverse, and rich in different cultural

expressions. There are traditional dances, choreographic dances; Comparsas (a form
of live music), with which the choreography and creativity of dances are expressed;
Comedies, like litany are traditional and folkloric popular theater, these are
traditional groups that sing in groups ; These can be individual, or collectives,
structural, and dramatic.

Costumes and dances

The Marimondas, which are hooded figures with long noses, floppy ears and bright
trousers and vests, are the most popular costume.

Other traditional costumes are El Garabato, El Africano, Drácula, El Torito, El

Congo, El Monocuco, Los Cabezones, Las Muñeconas, and El Tigrillo. Each costume
represents something, and were originated with authenticity, some are based on
other costumes around the world but mostly they all have Colombian roots and have a
meaning for the barranquilleros specially.[10]
The Carnival's dances are: La Cumbia, El Garabato, El Son de Negro, El Congo, El
Mapalé, El Caiman, El Paloteo, El Gusano, Las Farotas, De Relacion and Las
Pilanderas.

"The cumbia, a good example of the fusion of Indian, Black and White elements that
simulates a couple courting and is characterized by the elegance and subtle
movements of the woman's hips to the rhythm of a drum and flute."[11] Another of
the main dances is the Garabato, which represents a mystical battle between life
and death. The Congo represents African tradition in its movement and also the
memory of slavery in America.[12]

Queens of the Carnival

Cristina Felfle as queen in 2015.

1918- Alicia Lafaurie Roncallo
1919- Dilia Baena Lavalle
1920- Paulina Sojo
1921- Director y and weekly queens
1922- Rosita Lafaurie
1923- Toña Vengoechea Vives
1924- Isabel Elvira Sojo
1925- Sarita Roncallo
1926- Olga Heilbron Tavera
1927- Rebeca Donado Ucrós
1928- Josefina Vives Ballestas
1929- Consejo de regencia
1930-1934 No queens were elected
1935- Alicia Falquez Grau
1936- Josefina Osio
1937-1941 Town captains were elected
1942- Lolita Obregón Benjumea
1943- Carmiña Navarro Donado
1944- Niní Munárriz Steffens
1945- Judith Blanco de Andréis
1946- Tica Manotas Rodríguez
1947- Ana María Emiliani
1948- Paulina Carbonell Villalba y Gloria Rocaniz Fuenmayor (captains of single and
married dance appearances)
1949- Leonor González McCausland
1950- Edith Munárriz Steffens
1951- Cecilia Gómez Nigrinis
1952- Gladys Rosanía
1953- Carolina Manotas
1954- Adelina Segovia
1955- Lucía Ruiz Armenta
1956- Carmiña Moreno Vengoechea
1957- Margarita Angulo
1958- Vilma Escolar Nieto
1959- Marvel Luz Moreno
1960- Lilia Arévalo Duncan
1961- Edith Ulloque
1962- Julieta Devis Pereira
1963- Martha Ligia Restrepo
1964- Carmen Vergara Vengoechea
1965- Lucy Abuchaibe
1966- Josefina Martínez Armenta
1967- Martha Luz Vásquez
1968- Rocío García Bossa
1969- Luz Elena Restrepo
1970- Ligia Salcedo
1971- Clarissa Lafaurie
1972- Margarita Rosa Donado
1973- Fedora Escolar
1974- Vicky de Andréis
1975- Regina Margarita Sojo
1976- Katia González Ripoll
1977- Nohora Aduén Lafaurie
1978- Patricia Abello Marino
1979- Thelma García Méndez (quit)
1979- Esther (Tey) Cecilia Cadena Buitrago
1980- Ana María Donado
1981- Silvana González Martelo
1982- Mireya Caballero
1983- Luz Maria Rincón Pérez
1984- Flavia Santoro
1985- Luz Marina Atehortúa
1986- Silvia Tcherassi
1987- Maribel Fernández De Castro
1988- Margarita Gerlein Villa
1989- Laura Char Carson
1990- María José Vengoechea Devis
1991- Liliana Gerlein Villa
1992- Brigitte Abuchaibe
1993- Claudia Dangond Lacouture
1994- Danitza Abuchaibe Costa
1995- Katia Nule Marino
1996- María Cecilia Donado García
1997- María Alicia Gerlein Arana
1998- Liliana Hoyos Sánchez
1999- Julia Carolina de la Rosa Valiente
2000- Claudia Patricia Guzmán Certain
2001- Ilse Margarita Cuello Gieseken
2002- María Gabriela Diago García
2003- Margarita Lora Gerlein
2004- Olga Lucía Rodríguez Pérez
2005- Kathy Flesch Guinovart
2006- María Isabel Dávila Clavijo
2007- Daniella Donado Visbal
2008- Angie De la Cruz Yepes
2009- Marianna Schlegel Donado
2010- Giselle Marie Lacouture Paccini
2011- Marcela Dávila Márquez
2012- Andrea Jaramillo Char
2013- Daniela Cepeda Tarud
2014- María Margarita Diazgranados Gerlein
2015- Cristina Felfle Fernández de Castro
2016- Marcela García Caballero
2017- Stephanie "Fefi" Mendoza
2018- Valeria Abuchaibe Rosales
2019- Carolina Segebre Abudinen
2020- Isabella Chams Vega