Miranda, June 24, 2024.- This Monday the attendees of the ‘Drums of ALBA: Beats of our Identity’ festival began a journey through different states of Venezuela to learn about the tradition surrounding the celebration of San Juan, which is commemorated every June 24 in the Bolivarian nation.

The delegation from Grenada and Cuba, member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), experienced up the beating of the culo e’ puya, mina, and quitiplás drums in Curiepe and Tapipa in Miranda state, Venezuela.

This tradition in Miranda began with a mass, followed by the ringing of 12 bells at noon, and then, they danced with the saint throughout the town. The drums do not stop playing until June 25, when San Juan is once again guarded by his custodians.

From the monument in Curiepe, Reinaldo Echemendía, researcher and director of the Folkloric Ballet of Camagüey, Cuba, expressed: “We have come here to Venezuela by the invitation of Drums of ALBA (…) Our drums from Camagüey integrate the indigenous cultures of Cuba and the entire region.”

He assured that visiting Curiepe and participating in the ALBA Drums Encounter “is going to the core, going to the root, to the humility of the people, knowing the drum as an indispensable element of uniting all present cultures.”

“The drum represents a concept of integration and a concept of inclusion,” he concluded.

San Juan de Tapipa

Subsequently, the representatives of Grenada and Cuba visited Tapipa, also in Miranda, where the dance of San Juan captivated them with its ancestral rhythms.

The Drums of ALBA celebration brought together musical groups from more than 13 countries in the regional bloc, Africa, and the Caribbean in Venezuela from June 20 to 23.

As part of the agenda of the meeting, visits to Miranda, La Guaira, Carabobo, states, among others, were included in conjunction with the celebration of San Juan Bautista.