A
s soon as the Christmas decorations are stored away, most Barranquilleros start thinking about only one thing: Carnival. They start crafting their costumes, rehearsing their choreographies and planning for the best way to live and enjoy the festivities that take place all over town.
The actual Carnival celebrations don’t start for another 4 weeks, but since this is serious business all kinds of announcements about themes, queens & kings, and practice times began popping out all over the place early this week. And just yesterday, we got to watch El Bando de Antaño (the parade of yesteryear), which marks the beginning of pre-Carnival festivities.
This year, El Bando de Antaño took place on San Sebastian’s day (January 20th), the traditional date for the beginning of the festivities and it payed homage to Barranquilla’s Carnival queens of the years 1987 and 1962. Since the purpose of this event is to bring back memories of past celebrations, there were also many classic cars on show in the parade.
The parade ends with the Lectura del Bando, the traditional reading of the carnival proclamation, which states that everyone must enjoy themselves, dance and party wildly. Amen. For more information about Barranquilla’s Carnival celebrations, you can check the official website. And watch the video below for a little taste of what this year’s Bando de Antaño sounded and felt like.
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Cassandra
Jan 9, 2013 -
Wow, it sounds like a non-stop fiesta! I imagine the city’s prepping for Carnival again this January–will you be there to experience it?
nomadbiba
Jan 9, 2013 -
Hi Cassandra! Yes, as soon as the new year rolls around people already start to prepare for Carnival here, there are so many events happening between now and February 10th that I wonder how people get any work done :) Unfortunately, I have to be in Argentina by early February; so chances are I’ll miss it AGAIN this year :( It’s becoming hopeless for me…