HISTORY AND ORIGIN :
A journey that began more than three centuries.
The Carnival of Barranquilla has its remote origins in the carnival that came to America from Spain. So he has a spirit of renewal and change similar to that inspired this holiday season in Europe.
The first carnival held in the city is lost in history, more than a century ago, when Barrie was a small population. However, by word of mouth, have circulated various stories about how people celebrated the Barranquilla carnival as always ingenuous, funny, festive, and above all healthy, have been allowed to keep a tradition that goes back three centuries.
The carnival, of European origin, were introduced to America by the Spanish and Portuguese. The history of Barranquilla have come to the conclusion that was made in Cartagena de Indias, in colonial times as slaves party, by that time appeared on the streets black with traditional instruments and special costumes, dancing and singing.
The traditional novena of La Candelaria, Cartagena de Indias, framed a magnificent dance in the eighteenth century a holiday granted to blacks brought from Africa muzzles. These parties are a source of the main dances of the Carnival of Barranquilla.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Barranquilla increased all sectors of its economy and exploited the geographical conditions that were beginning to put as main city in the Caribbean region. "The advantage of being at the mouth of the main waterway of Colombia, the Magdalena River, the port allows for river and sea, and its location in northern Colombia and in the area circum allows economic displacement Cartagena, Mompox, Santa Marta and the Bank, and many of its inhabitants who are coming to participate in Barranquilla prosperity, "said Robert Castillejo in his Carnival in Northern Colombia.
Have not historically accurate data on the initial date of the first Carnival held in Barranquilla, his tradition is as remote as the first human settlements on the northern coast of Colombia. Here are some facts:
1888 Emerged a figure called King Momo (symbol of the mask).
1899 It created the position of President and Board Carnival organizer.
1903 It organized the first Battle of Flowers by a proposal of Mr. Heriberto Vengoechea recover a carnival tradition of previous years.
1918 Was chosen for the first time a queen to preside over the festivities of Carnival. Alicia Lafaurie Roncallo was chosen.
1923 It institutionalizes this year from the era of the reign was suspended for five years. Tona lady is named Vengoechea Vives.
1967 It introduces a carnival event, the "Great stop" which takes place the second day of Carnival (Sunday).
1974 Esther Forero initiative of performing the first Guacherna, an event that rescued a lost tradition: cumbia and drums that night cheered the city's neighborhoods.
1995 The Foundation created the Barranquilla Carnival King Momo parade down the street 17, dusting and the figure of King Momo, to chair this street performance. From that year until the date the Foundation named as King Momo to a figurehead or a leading figure in music and folklore. The parade, held parallel to the Battle of Flowers has become a tribute to those sectors that have been historical nucleus of the parties and where they arise with greater force and cultural richness popular manifestations of the carnival.
2000 Continued innovations Carnival Carnaval de Barranquilla Foundation creates the parade Fantasy Parade, especially for the performance of groups with a proposal on a selected topic with a free and original choreography. It takes place on Carnival Monday and takes the same path and the Battle of Flowers Parade.
2002 The Carnival of Barranquilla is declared by the Senate of the National Cultural Heritage.
The Act states the party as a world heritage Barranquilla Patria is supported under the concept of Cultural Heritage as a huge field at the crossroads of different stories of customs, knowledge, habits, etc., which continually called popular tradition. As such, the Cultural Heritage is that which is claimed to be representative or master of a community and the Carnival of Barranquilla is the most complete, bright and spectacular expression of the country folk.
2003 The Carnival of Barranquilla is declared by UNESCO a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. They announced the general director of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura in a ceremony held at the headquarters of this organization in Paris on 7 November.
The proclamation highlights the traditional and popular forms of expression such as: music, dance, ritual and mythology of this event. Also enhances its uniqueness, rootedness in the cultural tradition, the source of inspiration and cultural exchange that represents and excellence in the application of skills and technical qualities displayed by the participants at this event.
Carnival Source Primitivo It is not easy to determine with certainty the origin of the word carnival. However, it is believed to come from "Carrus Navalis", a festival derived from the Roman Saturnalia.
While there are vestiges of that holding in all the ancient peoples, it says that the fun of the Carnival had a religious character in its earliest beginnings, when they celebrated the new year-arrival of spring, "as a symbol of the rebirth of nature.
In Greece and Rome included acts processions. In such common events themselves between Teutons and Celts, ostentatiously walked a boat with wheels within which certain groups ran masked dances and singing satirical songs in the midst of jubilant disorder.
The habit of this "naval car" still remains in Reus (Spain) where for carnival times, placed on a cart, a boat of 70 tons and are carried away by ten horses, from the ship throw flowers and candy.
The classic day of the carnival is Sunday Fifty, but they added to it on Monday and Tuesday. In many places the carnival begins on January 6. Centuries ago, the Venice carnival started on 26 December.
King Momo, the son of sleep and night, presided over the Feast of Fools, celebrated in towns, villages and cities. Divinity of the joke, I love the biting satire and sarcasm of the most cruel and merciless irony, Momo became the "protector" of all those who indulged in revelry, the scandal of vice and excess.
Music and dancing
The music contains 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, and it is expressed by various forms of dancing, by means of music, by different forms of art works, by the wearing of different costumes, and by the way of celebrating. The Carnaval of Barranquilla is unique because of its cultural diversity and because it is a party where the people are the main protagonists. Every dance, every folkloric group, and every custom play different roles to make the party the best show on earth.The Carnaval of Barranquilla is multicultural, diverse, and rich in different cultural expressions. Its dancing and dancing expressions, just like its music, is gathered from every city of the Caribbean part of Colombia. The Carnaval's diversity can be categorized in seven different blocks: Traditional dances or folkloric dances; dances relation or manifestation dances; special dances or choreographic dances; Comparsas (a form of live music), with which the choreography of mmm dances and creativity of dances are expressed; Comedies, which are traditional and folkloric popular theater, where oral expression is its primary characteristic; Litany, which are traditional groups that sing along a choir; and last but not least the customs. These can be individual, or collectives, structural, and dramatic.
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