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The mayor of Barranquilla, Jaime Pumarejo Heins, announced this Monday that the parades and massive events of Carnival 2021 will not take place from February 13 to 16, as agreed.
The decision is based on the analysis that the District has been making of the behavior of Covid-19 in the Atlantic capital.
“In February we are not prepared for a party that brings together millions of people, both from Barranquilla and from other cities in the country. That is why the party as we know it will not take place in that month. We will work so that cultural manifestations, artistic expressions and the makers of the Carnival have a way of expressing themselves and thus preserve our culture, our oral and intangible heritage, but what we will not do is expose the life and health of the Barranquilleros ”, declared the leader.
In this way, it is about returning to Carnival as it was at the beginning, at home, more intimate, especially valuing the cultural. Therefore, it is contemplated that a commemoration be held on that date and that in each home they know how the groups are prepared, the traditions they keep, the feeling of the dances, the meaning of the costumes and the reason for the music.
“In the absence of massive parties we found a possibility to rescue the heritage that, it must be said, in the midst of the disorder, was a bit lost,” the president noted.
Although for now the indicators of the virus are under control in the city, the District values the analyzes that multilateral organizations have been doing on the effects of Covid-19 in the world, according to which companies take one year for each month of epidemic to get back to normal. “In these circumstances, for now we can say that in February we will not have a Carnival as we know it,” insisted Pumarejo.
“We support the decision”
Juan Ruiz Avendaño, president of the Barranquilla Carnival Costume Foundation (Fundicarnaval), told EL HERALDO that he supports the decision made by the mayor. “I am in favor of this decision, which surely seeks more time to contemplate the development of large events with the presence of the public. It was hardly logical that this decision was made for all that we are living with this pandemic. The theme of virtuality represents confinement and I would not like it. After a pandemic like this, what we need is a great party that renews hope and the economy. “
Roberto Guzmán Núñez, director of the group of popular tradition Los Authentic Monocucos de Las Nieves, was much more forceful and said that in his opinion the best thing is to suspend the party. “I agree with the mayor, although I go further and consider that it is necessary to think about the suspension of Carnival in 2021, because a re-outbreak of the virus is already being seen in many countries, so in Barranquilla we must avoid it at all costs. I discard the issue of virtuality, that implies many risks, because by gathering my 120 monocucos to make a choreography that is transmitted over the internet, I am practically exposing them to the virus.
The anthropologist Mirtha Buelvas explained that this postponement is an unprecedented event in carnestolendas. “During the Thousand Day War (1899-1903) the carnestolendas were suspended, but there was no record of a postponement. The parties are being suspended worldwide; in Spain they announced that they want to confine them until May, that already indicates something, because they first suffered from the virus, so you have to pay attention to it ”.
He added that “this is a festival with more than two centuries of tradition, so the safeguard not only of the cultural manifestations that are the essence of this festival must be protected, but also knowing how to make the party, because it is an intangible heritage in which the community participates ”.
A carnival from the academic
Beyond the date on which the parades and mass events of the carnival take place, the choreographer and cultural researcher Mónica Lindo, said that the knowledge of the citizens around this festival should be strengthened. “We should bet on the formative, do more talks, that we recognize ourselves as a cultural essence. At least a celebration of the festivities should be made on the usual date and then see how to celebrate it ”.
He added that he does not agree to a postponement. “This is not a birthday party whose celebration can be postponed, it is an anthropological event with a whole history, the Carnivals of the world are always held on a pre-birthing date. I think that this date should be taken advantage of and aimed at training the public. If what you want to highlight is the commercial component and the economic part for all of us who work at the party, you could later devise an activity that is not called Carnival, but a great fair or festival in which our expressions meet and exalt ”.
Along the same lines, the actor, cultural manager and drama teacher Darío Moreu, director of the Carnavalada, argued that it was logical for the mayor to make this decision. “We all knew what a party as such there was not going to be. The organizations had contemplated a different type of celebration. More has been thought about events of an academic and virtual nature, we have not contemplated the face-to-face, because it is not convenient for health reasons ”.
“Our approach has a lot to do with highlighting other characteristic elements, carrying out, for example, a recognition of traditional dances and providing more information about the nature of these, as well as the theater and music that sustains the Carnival”, Moreu added.
Finally, Hernán Pernett, director of the Cipote Garabato, said that the Carnival dates are the established ones and if they are celebrated afterwards, they should be called something else. “Now comes the analysis of virtuality and sharing a lot of knowledge, for example about the costumes we use in dance and other components that range from music to the presence of an enigmatic character such as death in a parade. Hopefully the city joins a much more academic agenda from home and that they enjoy it and learn from our origins ”.
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