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About This Exhibit

Parrandas de Remedios
Villa Clara Province, Cuba
December 24 & 25, 2003

Considered the oldest festival in Cuba, the parrandas were initially promoted by Father Francisco Vigil de Quiñones, who used to officiate at the Church of the Village of San Juan de los Remedios.

The priest, who was concerned about the absence of parishioners at the so-called "Misa de Gallo" (midnight mass), had the idea of encouraging children to take to the streets and wake up the citizens using whistles, horns and tin cans, so that they had no other choice than get up and attend mass.

That singular and noisy initiative got deeply rooted among the population, resulting in the most attractive festivity in the country. In 1871, the parrandas adopted a structure that has survived the passage of time.

During the parrandas, a fierce competition takes place between the neighborhoods of San Salvador, represented by the colors red and blue, and a rooster as a symbol, and El Carmen, represented by the color brown and a globe.

According to tradition, when the bells of the Iglesia Parroquial Mayor (Great Parochial Church) toll at 9 o'clock on the night of December 24, both neighborhoods make public their creativeness and efforts made during the entire year to participate in the competition.

Floaters, lamps, fireworks and traditional music are combined to exhibit the elements each neighborhood designed and built in secret during the whole year.

The typical music during the parrandas is known as "repique", and it reminds the pealing of bells calling to midnight mass. Players use such instruments as railings, cowbells, drums and trumpets

Cuba Exhibits > Parrandas
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