By Patricia Calderón and Garrett Kenyon
Design by Maria Bertrand
The annual Carnival festival in Barranquilla, Colombia, is world-class. The only larger Carnival celebration is the one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Carnival – which marks the 5 or 6 days before the start of Lent – dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and is celebrated in different forms all over the world. The French Mardi Gras festival, for instance, is part of the larger Carnival tradition.
The Carnival celebration in Barranquilla dates back to the mid-1800s and draws more than a million participants every year.
In Barranquilla, Carnival is the year’s most important cultural event – a vibrant tapestry of tradition, music, dance and costumes.
Its traditions are so well-preserved that, in 2003, UNESCO honored the festival as a “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”
Today, more than 500 folk groups perform in the festival, wearing traditional costumes and passing the folklore of Colombia down to the younger generation.
Sponsored children join the fun during school, where they can wear costumes on at least one day during the event.
Others perform with traditional dance groups, participate in neighborhood events, or compete to be the Carnival queens of their schools or communities.
Carnival allows the people of Barranquilla to put their cares aside for a few days and revel in the sights, sounds and traditions that make even the hardest lives bearable.
