Christmas in Venezuela

The commemoration of the birth of the Son of God has originated throughout the Christian world one of the most endearing and meaningful festivities for the human spirit.
In Venezuela, as in most of the countries that celebrate it, Christmas is the occasion of family gatherings, toasts for peace and prosperity, interpretation of special music: - aguinaldos and bagpipes, in our country - and preparation of elaborate delicacies and drinks.
The climate softens, the sky is more transparent and different species have their flowering time. One of the most popular flowers has beautiful and large red or white flowers, which is used to decorate these parties, its name is "Poisentia" and is popularly known as "Christmas".
In the cities, religious commemorations have been reduced to the precincts of the Catholic churches in which elaborate cribs and large arrangements of Christmas flowers are installed and the Sunday Masses and the midnight mass are celebrated on December 24, with music of bonuses and fireworks.
Shopping centers, main avenues, squares and shopping areas are adorned with multiple lights and large artificial pines profusely decorated.

Traditional Festivals

The model of the little town at Christmas
Venezuela is a country rich in cultural traditions, product of a long process of miscegenation between indigenous peoples, Europeans and Africans who arrived 500 years ago and later, from the different immigrations that have shaped their current society.
Christmas is the richest period in popular religious festivities. It begins the first days of December and continues for forty days until the celebration of the feast of the Candlemas, when the Purification of the Virgin is commemorated.

The first Sunday of December, the celebrations begin in the states of Aragua and Carabobo with a party called Velorio, Dance or Pilgrimage of the Pastors of the Child Jesus. From the celebration of the Mass, colorful processions and complicated and joyful dances are developed in the street and the church, accompanied with stringed instruments and percussion, to pay homage to the Child God. All the celebrants are men but many of them wear women's attire because they must dance in pairs: (Pastors and Pastorcillas, Old and Old.)
In the Andean states of Táchira, Mérida and Trujillo between December 24 and February 2, the Paradura del Niño is held, a beautiful celebration that takes place in houses where the devotion of its inhabitants is expressed in complex and elaborate cribs. in walking the Child Jesus in a silk handkerchief, with songs and processions. On the day of the celebration, musicians, singers, reciters and godparents sing couplets asking the Child God to bless the houses and fields. When the walk ends, the Child is returned and placed back in the Crib, but standing.
In some populations, a person pretends to steal the image, which remains hidden for three days, then negotiates with great ceremony its return by a procession composed of children dressed as the Virgin, Saint Joseph, the Magi, shepherds, angels , to whom the authorities of the locality add themselves. This celebration is called Theft and Child Search. All the actions are accompanied with bonuses, romances, tenths and couplets.
On December 28, when the Day of the Holy Innocents is celebrated, the celebration of the Locos and Locainas is celebrated in the states of Mérida, Trujillo and Portuguesa: after the Mass, the Madmen or Mamarrachos dress in frayed and dirty clothes and they cover their faces with masks or paint so as not to be recognized. In general, the roles are inverted: men dress as women and women as men, children disguise as elders and adults as children and all make jokes and jokes accompanied by a musical ensemble. In the Lara state, this festival is known as the Zaragozas and has a more religious significance. It includes processions, prayers and dances of children and adults accompanied by choirs and a musical ensemble that interprets Larense meringues. The costumes and masks are full of originality and color. It is one of the Christmas festivities that most attracts tourists.
The same day of the Holy Innocents is celebrated in Caicara de Maturín, Monagas state, the Monkey Festival, celebration from an ancient indigenous agricultural ritual that consists of a dance bufo to which the entire population is added in a row, under the guidance of the main character dressed as a monkey.
In Naiguatá and Osma, beaches near Caracas, that festival is commemorated with a celebration called the Government of Women in which it is the women who dress as men and act in the streets imitating the authorities and the heads of families while the men They take care of the house and the children.
The Burning of the Old Year is celebrated in the states Táchira and Mérida on December 31 and consists of the burning of a doll that represents the year that ends and that augurs well-being for the one that is about to begin.
Crib at Christmas in Venezuela
Between January 4 and 7 also in the Trujillo state, the arrival of the Pastors and Magi are celebrated with wakes that last all night with songs and offerings to the Child Jesus. The next day the Mass is celebrated and processions and songs are held to wait for the Magi. It prevails in the musical aspect, the percussion and the strange sound of the guaruras (big conches).
The popular Christmas festivities conclude on February 2 and 3 in Mérida with one of the most colorful celebrations, the Vasallos de la Candelaria, full of devotion, color and music. The vassals wear brightly colored garments, with cape and baggy trousers, they adorn themselves with bows and flowers and dance to the beat of violins, cuatro, tiples and tamboras. These dances, and in general the manifestations of popular culture such as those described above, show the syncretism of ancient European religious traditions and African and indigenous rites.

Venezuelan Christmas traditions
At Christmas, Venezuela dresses up as a party and decorates itself with its best atmosphere, it is a time of flavor and celebration, of meetings and encounters, of warmth and happiness.
In every Venezuelan corner, the arrival of the child god is celebrated and a myriad of traditions unfold throughout the national territory. December begins with joy and the Venezuelan enjoys this time intensely, among music, meetings, toasts and delicious dishes our cultural identity expresses itself with strength and the arrival of the child god blesses every corner of this beautiful Venezuela of yours.
There are different cultural, gastronomic, musical and traditional expressions that identify the celebration of Christmas in Venezuela, these celebrations have great strength because they contain innumerable collective meetings that make the December dates very special.
Between these manifestations that usually express themselves in Christmas and in some cases extend until February we find: the aguinaldos, the manger, the bagpipes, the Christmas gifts, the Christmas table, the parties, the paraduras of the child, the skates, the dances of the shepherds or the wake of the baby Jesus, the day of the innocent saints, the day of the crazy and locains, the arrival of the Magi, the New Year and the old year, among others. All these celebrations fill with human warmth all the Christmas holidays that if something is characteristic is to be a period where family reunion, solidarity and human values ​​take over our souls, then Venezuela becomes even warmer and gives way to the delivery of a period that closes to receive another new one full of hopes and new dreams to be realized.
In these lines we want to express a bit of this collective feeling that invades Venezuelan territory at Christmas, if it is in Venezuela enjoy the energy of our parties because we carry it inside as only Venezuelans know how to take the party and joy in the heart. To you dear reader, before continuing my lines I can not stop wishing you from the depths of my heart a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The aguinaldos

In Christmas time in Venezuela, the aguinaldo is always heard. It is a musical style brought by the Spaniards and that we arrange in our own way, the word aguinaldo means the gift that is given to another or that another expects from one during the Christmas season or the feast of the Magi.
On the etymology of the word aguinaldo (word that is not used in Spain) some think that it would come from the French aguiland or gift. Bona, for his part, explains that it is a "gift, gift or overpayment that is usually done for Christmas or New Year. In those days those who used to sing in the streets their serenades-students mostly-repeated as a refrain "hoc in anno" = is this year; vulgarizing then the cantata and then said aguinaldo. Lisandro Alvarado incorporates the term to his lexicographical work and defines aguinaldera, aguinaldera, as «Concerning Christmas bonuses» and as «pedidor de aguinaldos». It is based on texts by Urbaneja AchelpohI, who writes: "Bullanguera y expansiva, the comparsa de aguinalderos" and "They huddled at the foot of the manger waiting for a comparsa of aguinalderos that from door to door were greeting the altarpieces with their carols, simple and old. "Jesús Alí Villalobos, for example, describes a Christmas in the Venezuela of 1934 saying that" in December groups of bonuses walked the streets of both Caracas and cities and towns in the interior, and during their days invaded the residences to interpret in front of the nativity scenes typical Christmas songs. The families generously offered them carato de acupe, dulce de lechoza and donkey milk. The crib was not missing in any home. "The word aguinaldo is incorporated in Venezuela to the denomination of Masses of Aguinaldos, or Novena de Navidad, which precedes the Mass of Gallo, with which the Catholic Church commemorates the Birth of the Child. This custom of the Christmas masses were, in our view, survivals of evangelizing ways in colonial times, the case is that the Christmas bonus stayed in Venezuela and is part of our Christmas, it is a beautiful and beloved musical style that fills our hearts and homes on Christmas holidays.

The manger

The Venezuelan crib has its origin in the Spanish traditions brought to the new world by the colonizers, the indigenous and African slaves in their "non-Christian" condition did not contribute any significance to these parties except the influence provided to the gastronomic part of the Christmas celebrations .
We received through the Spanish colonization the essence of the cult of the birth of Christ, of the Child Jesus, essence to which the reinterpretations that now characterize Latin American Christmas were added. Its essence has remained untouched by the generalized changes suffered by the Christmas culture.
The manger is found throughout the Christian world, its origin is in Italy and passed to America through Spain. the first figurines, made of clay, arrived in Spain around 1448 and came from Naples, where the birth of the child was represented only in the churches. the figures began to be manufactured in Spain in the sixteenth century, and in the seventeenth century the most renowned sculptors made wax and wood. the popularization of the manger occurred in Spain at the end of the 18th century: when Carlos III left the throne of Naples to arrive in Spain as emperor, he brought with him his great fondness for births and as a gift to the Prince of Asturias, his son, entrusted to Valencian artists the making of special figurines. This custom took root among the members of the nobility who entrusted works similar to famous carvers and a perhaps richer process was given in America from the Spanish colonization to be added the artisanal creative wealth that was characterizing us as mergers took place extraordinary cultural events that shaped us as Hispanic Americans. the regionality of our culture contributed to the manger not only its material elements in which the collective and individual faith was resolved, but also the ritual and festive behavior that the transculturation processes were designing until they became characteristic of each zone. the Venezuelan of our days has not renounced the custom of "putting the manger", incorporating him as companions of the Christmas scene the little tree and other adornments of more recent introduction. The latter particularly in the urban environment, where it is increasingly dependent on the industrialization of Christmas. In the rural area and in the least urbanized, there is still enough space and time for the tradition of the manger to expand in all its creative dimension.

The Christmas gifts

Tradition is dawn in December in a mass of aguinaldos or Misa de Gallo, these masses are an expression that characterizes the transculturization and the fusion of two worlds that has occurred in these lands. The Christmas gifts gather family and friends in the church, which is particularly decorated for these dates and where the clergyman directs the mass that is accompanied by songs of Christmas gifts that allude to the Christian theme that is celebrated in these dates, it is shared in the Asmas church bread and at the end of the mass fireworks are thrown, chocolate or coffee is taken. When the sun rises and the event ends, leaving the participants full of rejoicing and love for their neighbor, prepared for the different Christmas days.

The Christmas table

If something characterizes Christmas in our land is the particular Christmas table, product of the fusion of many races, and the transculturation and the clear Spanish influence on the Venezuelan natives, our food is very particular, full of color and flavor, in the Christmas table we find as the main dish and characteristic the beloved Venezuelan Hallaca, dressed in banana leaves, its skin of corn flour hides a stew that includes ingredients of the Spanish culture and the Venezuelan indigenous, the hallaca is accompanied by ham bread, famous in our land during the holiday season is a bread stuffed with ham, bacon, raisins and olives, likewise the chicken salad, the pork loin are characteristic dishes that are presented with the hallaca, ham is served ironed and countless variations of salads sweets, special decorations decorate the tables. We also find at the Christmas table sweet presentations like the typical Venezuelan lechoza sweet, the panettone that was brought by European immigrants and although it is not ours to enter our table until becoming characteristic in our Christmas, the black cake also goes to the gala at the table, turrones, varied confectionery, nuts and hazelnuts are the most characteristic elements that make up the Christmas table, which dresses up to gather family and friends and in the company of wines, champagne, whiskeys and cocktails becomes a celebration that prepares participants to the delivery of gifts and presents that are made only at that time of year, identifying the traditional exchange of gifts. All these details make Christmas dinner a celebration that is accompanied with bagpipes, Christmas carols and bonuses and that the Venezuelan enjoys intensely.

The parties

The parrandas are a musical genre that can only be seen in the holidays, accompanied by four maracas, the aguinaldos were transformed into parrandas, the parranderos go down the street singing their Christmas serenades and expressing the experiences that are celebrated in the decembrinas dates, this musical trend born in the states of Aragua and Carabobo, where a marked difference was established between the aguinaldo and the revelry, the parrandas do without the furruco and are sung throughout the year, their themes deal with everyday situations although they can talk about Christmas, about the child god, etc. In our beautiful Venezuela one of the groups that exalts this musical genre is called Un Solo Pueblo, this group was dedicated to spread this genre and in our land is a well-loved musical group.
In the revelry can play different musical instruments, there can be several soloists and the choirs give an incredible warmth to the music. The parranderos leave with their four and their people to spread their songs and to cheer up the town then Venezuela feels proud of its people, its music and its cultural expressions

The parasites of the child

In the Andean areas there is a tradition called Paradura, Robo and Search of the Child, it is a festival where it is represented in the biblical message about the childhood of the Christ - the Child lost and found in the temple - in this celebration They put him on his feet and make him walk, like any child, in the ritual of the ritual stop or parade where he is named godparents who are responsible for him to stand and walk. With these celebrations the idea of ​​the permanent reintegration of the Child-God into the family and the community is ratified. During them, chants of tones, tenths and that of the rosary are sung, in addition to a serenada or procession of the image of the Child in the hands of his godparents and surrounded by the people. With the paradura, cakes and wine are served, the family, friends and neighbors are gathered, gunpowder is burned and candles are lit, the children are dressed in angels and the child is placed in a white cloth that is taken by the four corners. In a whole procession, one dances, gets up, stands and walks the god child, accompanied by violins, the songs that are sung allude to the experiences of the baby Jesus.
The paraffins are made from December 31 to February 2, when the manger is removed from Venezuelan homes, it is a beautiful tradition that is maintained in our town, the paraduras are part of the religious beliefs of the Andeans, in any house, in any town, friends, neighbors and entire families, go out to the street to celebrate their paraduras, they are a beautiful tradition that when living it rejoices the soul.

The skates

The skating are parties or public celebrations that are made in the street, they are usually done in whole avenues that are closed at Christmas time for children and adults to enjoy music, party and children premiere and enjoy their skates, bicycles and skateboards freely, accompanied by music, aguinaldos, bagpipes or carols, an environment is achieved where recreation comes first, the boys premiere the toys that the child Jesus gives him at Christmas, family and friends meet.
The skating is a public holiday that became famous, it is the result of the degeneration of the festivities that used to be celebrated in the 1950s, when all the people went out to celebrate the Christmas holidays accompanied by parties, lights , meals, all the families met in the street to celebrate after attending the masses and religious celebrations typical of Christmas, the tradition continued and the skating became famous, so much so that the years passed and every December in every corner of Venezuela can find a skating rink.

The dances of the shepherds

The dances of the shepherds are typical parties of the states Aragua and Carabobo, the dance begins when the male cachero dressed in colorful and carrying a few chubs in his hand, goes to the village church followed by the shepherds and shepherds, who in rows and following measured steps are accompanied by other characters, among them the titiriji, the old and the old. After the mass of roosters, the angel Gabriel appears represented by a girl reproducing the dialogue according to the text of salt Luke with the shepherds, the Child Jesus receives a greeting and begins the dance that guided by the cachero indicating the steps of the dance, the ceremony is developed and arrives what they call the delivery that is a gift that the shepherds perform by placing themselves on their knees and singing verses that allude to the payment of their promises, culminates the delivery when the cachero removes the horns and gives them as an offering. This ritual is accompanied by bonuses dedicated to the child God, the musical group intones different types of aguinaldos called: the villain, the surrender and the levanten. The costumes of these dances are very special and colorful, the shepherds use long skirts made with colorful paper strips, they place head hats decorated colorfully with flowers and bows. Each shepherd carries a long stick with crossbars where plates, brass and bells hang and which is also decorated in a colorful way. The cowherd girls are men dressed as women and wearing synthetic wigs, hoops and an especially colorful makeup. These celebrations are intended to celebrate the arrival of the child god, fulfill promises and are a way to reaffirm the local identity of the region. The pastors' festivities are especially colorful and are a beautiful tradition that is cared for and respected.

The day of The crazy and locaines

On December 28, the Day of the Innocents is celebrated in several places of the country, with collective parties. In addition to the so-called games of innocents or jokes to relatives, friends and the public in general to make them "fall for innocents", it is customary for some disguised as bullies to travel through roads and populated places, making mischief and asking for money. They are the parties of Locos and Locainas. In some places like Canoabo, Carabobo, improvises a theatrical representation starring a man dressed as a woman, who in the middle of joking situations asks for money for his sick son ... These crazy parties are accompanied by music that animates the party, the men and women wear costumes very varied and colorful, the roles are reversed and men wear women's clothing and women wear men's clothing ... The parties of the crazy was an ancient pagan celebration in Europe that the church intended to exterminate by doing That day, the Day of the Holy Innocents, in our land we survived because it is used as an expression of social criticism and a way of psychological liberation.

The arrival of Los Reyes Magos

The celebrations of kings allegorize the arrival of the Kings to know the Child God, is celebrated on January 6 and in different regions of Venezuela is celebrated in different ways. It evokes the adoration of the kings of the Child in the Bethlehem manger, in many regions there is a theatrical representation where the nativity scene of Bethlehem is evoked, where the characters emulate the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the baby Jesus, accompanied by a Legion of new angels are visited by kings, laden with presents. It is customary that on the fifth of January the children before bedding place the shoes on the doors of their rooms so that the Kings deposit their presents there, it is believed that the Magi are rich and generous therefore deposit money among their presents. It is also a custom to invite family and friends to the dinner of kings, where they serve a variety of delicious dishes which highlights the Thread of Kings, a kind of sweet bread seasoned with candied fruit, raisins and nuts inside. bathe with a sweetened mixture and accompany it with wine. The Kings bring well-being and happiness to the home, they are benefactors and magicians, therefore their arrival is celebrated. This tradition derives from the nativity of the child, the events that took place at the birth of Jesus according to the Catholic religion, among them the arrival of the kings to know the child.
The new year and The old year

What's your old year?

What's wrong?
That you already have your bags
Prepared ...
Betulio Medina
Maracaibo 15
Maracaibo 15 is a famous group in Venezuela, they play bagpipes and in their lyrics they express the Venezuelan feeling of Christmas, with bagpipes we receive the new year full of hopes and new projects, with bagpipes we say goodbye to the old year with an air of nostalgia and a sad feeling that dissipates between hugs and toasts. The old year passed and you hear his departure to the beat of music and a "cannon shot" of gunpowder that we call in the same way "old year". The New Year and the Old Year are part of our decembrinas traditions shortly before December 12 of the 31st of December, Venezuelans prepare a wonderful atmosphere to augur a new year full of love, happiness, prosperity and health.
Among the best known beliefs are to take a handful of lentils and hold them in hand when the new year arrives to have prosperity, take the bags to the street to have a new year full of travel, eat the 12 grapes of time to ensure the fulfillment of twelve wishes, break the glasses to leave the past behind and open the way to the promising future of the new year, December 31 is a very special date for our people, that night we dress up partying and between premieres and fuss we share a Beautiful dinner, which presents the best dishes. It is shared with family and friends. In some states "the old year" is burned, a doll is made that dresses as a man and is filled with gunpowder and when it is twelve o'clock it lights up, letting fireworks explode.

San Benito

In the western Venezuelan area the black saint is worshiped: San Benito, from Zulia to Trujillo and passing through Mérida, from December to January, the San Benito festivities, where Giros, Chimbangles and Negros go out to offer the Saint with clouds of gunpowder, dances and masses. To be celebrated in the month of December San Benito is included in bagpipes and celebrations that are associated with Christmas.
In Mérida, specifically in Mucuchíes, one of the most colorful and beautiful fiestas of San Benito is celebrated, a tradition that has been preserved intact through the years. The inhabitants of the area say that at the time of colonization the settlers of the páramos were at war because they did not want to be dominated by the Spaniards, between struggles the men faced each other but one day being little the army of men and being tired not they allowed themselves to be knocked down when they invoked Saint Benedict, who came down in a thundering cloud of gunpowder to instill courage in men and frighten off adversaries. Since then he is worshiped and from the farthest villages of the desert of Merida, they descend from the dawn of December 29 men, old and children, barefoot, with their faces painted a black anointing, dressed in black and with a red cape, hat of colorfully decorated headpiece, lenses and a blunderbuss with which they explode gunpowder, forming an army that gathers more than 3,000 blacks, they go out in procession burning gunpowder and accompanying the Saint in procession to the church in the square, where the The Archbishop himself officiates a mass, accompanied by the Giros, which are dance groups dressed in colorful uniforms and floral hats that are accompanied by music of violins, at the end of the Mass all blacks emit a unison of gunpowder that makes to resound to the people and the venerated Saint remains in the church. San Benito is very loved in this area, that day