Before we jump into the actual photos and description of what I experienced at Carnival, we’re going to get you in the mood with some music and videos.
First, a tech note. I thought it would be cool to embed YouTube videos straight into the blog post (which I have done below). Unfortunately, this requires Flash. Ugh. This goes against all of my open-source cred (I’ve managed to keep the entire site standards-compliant until now). Therefore, I am providing a direct link to the videos for those of you who don’t have flash installed – just click the link above each error message. If you’re viewing this on an iPhone, the videos will not display inline, but the links will automatically open your YouTube app and play the video. Anyway, let me know if you have any problems.
We start off with one of the most popular songs. You hear this all over the city – played live by groups (always wearing the same costumes as in the video) in bars, in front of houses or on stages; blaring out of taxis, store fronts, hair dressers, even the shopping carts of homeless. It’s a good example of the typical instrumentation – strong, upbeat percussion, vocals, and that simple flute that is incredibly loud for being so small (it sounds like a reed instrument):
Direct link to “Checo Acosta Bulgar” video
Next we move on to an introductory video about the Carnaval in Barranquilla. I was going to upload some videos I took at the parades, but the ones on YouTube are far better. You get to see the wide variety of costumes and characters while listening to a fun soundtrack:
Direct link to “Tribute to Barranquilla Carnaval” video
Although Carnaval in Barranquilla is comparatively tame compared to Rio de Janeiro’s or Mardi Gras in New Orleans (no flashing boobs, for example), there is a crude vulgarity (in a playful spirit) to Costeños (people from this coastal region). For example, rather than saying, “drink the rum,” they say, “suck the rum”. This song with that title is the #1 hit this year:
Direct link to “Mama Ron” video
There are dozens of versions of this song, and you hear it zillions of times a day. It invades my dreams.
I believe the above music falls under the category of Champeta, a style of music unique to this area of the world. The other popular music forms here are Cumbia and Vallenato. It’s fascinating reading how the West African rhythms have blended with Carribean sounds and styles, forming an entirely new form. And it’s constantly evolving – some of these forms were only given names 20 years ago, and were only more recently added as categories to the Latin Grammy Awards.
I think it’s really neat that the folkloric music IS the popular music here. Contrast with the States and Western Europe, where pop music is consumed by 12 – 25 year olds, while it’s mostly older and/or rural people who listen to traditional folk music. There is not that distinction here.
One of the pre-Carnival events that I missed but would have liked to have seen was the gay parade. As usual, many of the trannies are hotter than bio women! The roots of this cross-dressing tradition go back to when the invading Spaniards were raping and pillaging the countryside. Colombian men disguised themselves as women to give the rapists “a big surprise”.
Another parade I would have liked to have seen (it took place a few days before I arrived) was the night parade. It’s all done with candles and lanterns.
Finally, I will leave you with some photos of past Carnavals to tease you while I continue to sort through and upload all of my photos.
