There’s no one home. As customary at this time of the year, the homes are empty in Santiago. Where is everyone? At Trocha, Carretera del Morro, Martí Street, Sueño Street, at the carnival. During an entire week men, women, children and older persons form a burning whirl that assaults the streets of Santiago to dance at the most glorious conga rhythm. Music floods every corner of the village for 168 hours leaving place for nothing else; one goes home only to recover the essential energy to continue the feast.
Carnival is the most keenly anticipated moment for those who live in Santiago, and also the time chosen by many visitors to meet the city and its people. It is said that the celebration began to take place in late 17th century. Every 25th of July a procession covered the surroundings of the cathedral to celebrate the day of Apostle Santiago, patron of the city.
Shortly after, it became customary to celebrate in like manner other saints’ days. Masked persons and groups of nightlife lovers who sang quartets and catchy refrains gradually joined the procession, turning it into a popular festivity.
The Rumbón Mayor (Big Rumba) is a mixture of Spanish, African and French-Haitian cultures that harmoniously combines dances, music and the typical wardrobe of this celebration. Thousands of persons crowd the temporary stands in Garzón Avenue to enjoy the parade of the dance groups representing the best of Caribbean traditions in their choreographies.
Perhaps the loudest element is the parade of floats exquisitely embellished with brilliant colors, light effects and the most beautiful mulattas of the hot territory, dancing at the rhythm of that music. Every year, one of these floats is chosen as the most striking of the carnival.
While the dancers choose Trocha Street to dance with the best Cuban orchestras, Céspedes Avenue is the favorite place for those who prefer drinking and good food. The crowd covers almost two kilometers full of artisans’ booths and sales points of pork cracklings, juicy pork meat or tasty tamales. On every corner a group of persons meet around a cold beer thermos to freshen up in the heat of the night, or to savor a delicious cocktail made with Cuban rum.
But the best of carnival has no time or place. It starts in any neighborhood and in a few minutes involves the entire city. No one can refuse the call of the Chinese trumpet: foreigners and locals, whether they dance or not, join the conga, bewitched by the melody of drums, cowbells and wooden cases. The spontaneous pilgrimage marches at the rhythm of that sound, improvising choruses on the life of the Cuban people. In its tour the conga becomes ever longer, as long as carnival, but no one gets tired, they all want to keep dancing. The city is thus assailed by a tornado of laughter, dance and flavor.
It is difficult not to join the heterogeneous multitude that floods the streets of Santiago at any time of day to enjoy carnival, a feast of fire, happiness and splendor.
Fireworks indicate the last moments of the Rumbón Mayor. The people of Santiago finally return to their homes to take a long rest after the divine revelry, but before they go to bed they cherish an idea: the next carnival.
