THE BLACKS AND WHITES' CARNIVAL

In the Colombian multiculturalism are parties, and one of this is the Black and White Carnival, celebrated in Nariño Department. Pasto, the capital of Nariño, is the heart of “Pastusa Culture”-So called the people from Pasto, and included all the people from Nariño-, one the most popular and interesting of Colombia. Around this culture is developed The Blacks and Whites’ Carnival, but is not a problem to enjoy it because this is a carnival of all and for all people. This Carnival is celebrated between 2 and 7 January of each year, it is the most popular in the Colombian southwest and it was declared “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” in 2009 by UNESCO.

To start, the family of my father is from this place, so flow “Pastusa Blood” through my veins, for this reason I have been able to know this culture closely and, obviously, I have enjoyed of its most representative celebration-The Blacks and Whites’ Carnival-. We must mention a couple of important data to begin. First, this party has a pair of special things, the flour and the foam (in bottle). Do you question why? It is simple, the tradition in the Carnival is throw flour or foam on another person, but without the intention of hurt him, just have fun. Also, this kind of foam smells like air freshener and one end smelling good. This action creates an atmosphere of happiness in the carnival that infects everyone and makes them enjoy.

 

In my personal case, I always go out to celebrate with my cousins and some uncles. We dress in old clothing, but that should be thick and warm for protect us of the cold, hat or cap and glasses to prevent the foam or the flour hurting our eyes or other part of the body. But, don’t be scared! This is the only one caution that you must take if you go to Carnival, for the rest, you just need to worry about enjoying yourself.  For example, I like play with foam because to be smothered with this is not painful or uncomfortable, on the contrary is enjoyable due to it is soft and smell agreeable, and the flour is like talcum powder, it is very soft too.

Principally, the carnival has two days very special: The Blacks’ Day and the  Whites’ Day, although also have others beautiful celebrations like “El Carnavalito” or the “Colonies Parade”, that you can enjoy while playing throwing foam.

The first day, The Blacks’ Day, is a day that commemorates when African slaves were free to indulge their playful outbursts. This day my cousins and me went to the central park, The Antonio Nariño Park, to see The Colonies Parade that is a colorful parade due to the amazing Floats, made by native craftsmen, representing typical things and important people of pastusa culture. Those floats are very big, 4 - 6 meters high and 15 – 17 meters long, but the important is the design, those are very colorful and the characters are a little bit funny making them interesting. These floats represent colombian characters like politicians, athletes, singers, included indigenous, in a way humorous, but also they have design of animals, such as gorillas, Colombian birds, butterflies and mythological animals like dragons, in a colorful form so beautiful. Other important aspect is the traditional “Queen of Carnival’s Float”, where the Queen of Carnival travels through the city, delivering makeup and inviting the tourist to join the game. We can laugh so much while we play too.  At noon, we lunch roasted cuy (in north America is called guinea pig), beans, potato salad, rice and Poliada, that is a soup of corn soaked and prepared by hand. That was delicious because the cuy meat is very soft and salty, the perfect complement for tasteless potato salad; and taste of Poliada is a little spicy but sweet at same time-I don’t know what-, but really is delicious. Being satisfied by the great lunch, we returned to the street and we were walking across Pasto, playing and dancing typical music in the streets to paint in black ourselves and another people, using cosmetic creams made for this purpose, but also we used polishes and silicone black paint. The thing that most caught my attention was the motto of the day and that all people say with pride despite not being blacks: !Hurray the Blacks!

In the second day, although we were exhausted, we can’t miss The Grand Parade, which is a little longer than the parade the previous day. In this day, we are painted white with fragrant talc, foam, flour, cream or cosmetic paints. But Before the parade, we were in Agüalongo Restaurant, a gourmet restaurant, in where we ate baked rabbit, boiled potato, rice and Mazamorra. The baked rabbit is palatable because his taste is like a mix between chicken and pork, due to the way how they are raised-they eat carrot, a especial grass called “barrabas” and food waste like a pig-. And the mazamorra is sweet corn in milk whit panela, which make a delightful dessert. Well after that, we were ready to enjoy the Carnival. Like I said, the main attraction is the Grand Parade, that is nearly 7 km long on a path of about 15 km, in which all people, included me, run through the streets of downtown, the “Plaza del Carnaval” and some of the avenues of the periphery by the so-called “Senda del Carnaval”. The majority of citizens and thousands of tourists crowd the streets to witness this parade, with new designs on the floats but equally beautiful , cheering and throwing confetti or streamers to the participants, all dancing to traditional and typical songs, such as the famous The Guaneña, El Trompo Sarandengue, The Southern Son, among others. After the parade, we went to celebrate in the house of my grandparents and there ate roasted chicken and fried fava bean-is another typical food-, these taste like potato chips. But the celebration doesn’t stop there! We were drinking Chapil, which is a mix between schnapps and basil, this makes it a stronger drink. I was drunk in a few hours, however that moment was very wonderful, because the most of my family was together sharing stories and laughing of ourselves, really I enjoyed that moment. 

Pitifully, this is it! I returned the next day because my father had a few commitments. However, I guess that my experience was very short for all that the carnival has to offer, because it has many other acts to enjoy, like “The Carnavalito”, “The Family Castañeda’s Parade” and “The Cuy Festival”, also popular festivals in the squares and streets of the city, but for now I can only describe those aspects of the carnival that I can enjoy. So, if you think in live a great experience in a very interesting and different culture, you should go to The Blacks and Whites Carnival because the pastusa people are friendly, cheerful, and overall hospitable. Also, it is a place of a great interactive culture with only one motive: “Enjoy Pasto”.