What type of music is played during Carnival in Puerto Rico?
In addition to marauding costumed vejigantes, expect a lot of traditional bomba y plena percussion music and an abundance of eating and drinking.
What does Carnival de Ponce celebrate?
People in Ponce, Puerto Rico, have been celebrating Carnival for over 250 years! Each year the Carnival lasts the whole month of February with parades, music, and special events. The Carnival is a special celebration before the Christian season of Lent, the six weeks before Easter.
Where is Carnaval de Ponce celebrated?
Ponce, Puerto Rico
The Carnaval de Ponce (English: Ponce Carnival), officially Carnaval Ponceño, is an annual celebration held in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The celebration lasts one week and it ends on the day before Ash Wednesday. Thus, it is generally held in February and sometimes in March.
What do vejigantes represent?
The vejigantes represent either the devil in the battle between good and evil, or the Moors that Saint James fought during the Catholic Reconquista of Spain. The name originates from the Spanish word for bladder, vejiga.
What is traditional Puerto Rican music called?
Merengue. A style of danceable music that originated in the Dominican Republic and spread throughout Latin America and the United States, including Puerto Rico.
What kind of music do they listen to in Puerto Rico?
salsa
The major type of music coming out of Puerto Rico is salsa, the rhythm of the islands. Its name literally translated as the “sauce” that makes parties happen. Originally developed within the Puerto Rican community of New York, it draws heavily from the musical roots of the Cuban and the African-Caribbean experience.
What do the burning of the coffin and the dummy symbolize?
Coffin and dummy are set on fire, to symbolize the burning away of the sins of the flesh.
Where does the tradition of the Puerto Rican Carnival come from?
Today the festivity is prevalent with Roman Catholic populations. The celebrations in Puerto Rico originated in Ponce and its first records date back to 1858 when the Spaniard José de la Guardia held a masked-ball.
What are vejigante masks?
The vejigante is a demon figure from medieval Spanish folklore that has become a staple of Puerto Rican Carnival culture. During Carnival festivals, the vejigante dress in a horned mask called a careta, and flowing costume to join the crowds in singing and dancing. The careta masks are a cultural symbol of Puerto Rico.
Are vejigantes evil?
In the 17th century the vejigantes began to more generally represent good v. evil. In Puerto Rico, the Taino culture is also a part of the festival, and the vejigantes are heavily influenced by music, more specifically bomba and plena.
What do Puerto Ricans do on a parranda?
A parranda or trulla is the boricua version of a Christmas Carol. Friends and families gather in front of a house – usually after 10:00 p.m. – with instruments like panderos, maracas, güiros, cuatros, and guitars to sing aguinaldos (traditional Christmas songs).
Why does a dead body look different?
A body may be different in death to life because: For example, skin has changed colour due to internal bleeding, or the body’s facial appearance has changed due to a broken jaw, or cuts, etc. a mortician or funeral director has changed a body’s appearance through clothing, or hair arrangement, or cosmetics.
What does burn in effigy mean?
Definition of hang/burn in effigy : to publicly hang/burn a large doll that looks like someone The governor was hanged/burned in effigy by a mob of protesters.
What are the 3 most important holidays celebrated in Puerto Rico?
Along with Christmas and New Year’s, the Epiphany on January 6th is also celebrated as part of the holiday season in Puerto Rico. According to Catholic tradition, the Three Wise Men (in Spanish, los Tres Reyes Magos) visited baby Jesus in the manger to deliver gifts.
What do bladders do during festivals in Puerto Rico?
The cow bladder is inflated and dried in the sun, then filled with seeds or beans and the vejiga is used by the vejigante as a “weapon” during the parades and celebrations, as they playfully bop people with the rattle.