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Festivals in Nicaragua

Costumes, Music and Traditional Cuisine
 

The tourist who aims at gaining a deep insight into Nicaragua’s traditions and corresponding fiestas must first know the basic facts concerning the most significant celebrations of this country. Almost anyone will let you know that the festivals dedicated to the patron saints are an incentive for spectacular displays of traditional costumes, music and cuisine.

Whole families take part in the festivities by putting on vividly colored masks, attires, in the middle of processions marvelously blending both Christian and pagan ceremonies.

There are many festivals restricted locally. For instance, the capital of the country hosts the festival of Santo Domingo, the scenic Masaya is home to the festival of San Jeronimo. There are other fiestas extended nationwide: the celebrations dedicated to Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary, the New Year’s festivities, the fiestas in September – the month of the Independence.

Managua is home to the festival of Santo Domingo, a figure representing the patron saint of the Nicaraguan capital. The name of the saint is also the name of the old cathedral in Managua, badly damaged by the 1972 earthquake and currently closed to the public.

On the 1st of August, each year, the festivities begin with the so called descent of Saint Domingo (“Bajada del Santo” in Spanish), a ceremony during which the statue of the saint is taken from its place in the church of Las Sierritas so as to be transferred to the old church near the downtown. After ten days the real festivities begin, when the so called ceremony of the rise of the saint (“Subida del Santo”) takes place and the statue is carried back to the Las Sierritas.

Horse parades are a great opportunity to admire the talents of the horse breeders and of the horseback riders. Many of the thousands of people participating to the festival are dressed in traditional costumes and dance traditional dances on traditional music. One folkloric attire which catches the eye is the “la vaquita” or the cow costume, which can be met in other parts of the country as well when dressed by professional dancers, but its first occurrence is registered during the festivities of Santo Domingo.

The costume strikes through a picture of a cow’s head attached in front of the waist with horns (some fake, some real) on top of the head. The dominant color of the costume is red, and the dancer moves in the rhythm of the songs sung by the so called “chicheros” (musical group) while other participants dressed as bulls accompany her.

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