LAS PARRANDAS DE REMEDIOS, Expect the UNEXPECTED, Dec. 20-27,2023

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Boasting two churches on the square, the small city of Remedios is the only one in Cuba that can make this claim. This provides a dramatic and colonial setting for an annual spectacle that has made the city famous. The build-up for this spectacle takes a year, and the last few days are mesmerizing as the floats and displays take form, and there are numerous side shows of theatrical performances and the drama of meeting the starting deadline. Then on December 24th at 5:00 AM, the Parrandas of Remedios start and continue for more than 24 hours ending in the early daylight hours of Christmas Day. With roots back to the large plantations and enslaved people, the Parrandas were two days set aside to celebrate Christmas and faith. It is a competition between the neighborhoods of Carmen and San Salvador.

Beginning with processions, Rhumba processions illuminated by flares, they compete for who can gather the largest and most vocal crowds. Crews feverishly prepare lavish floats and costumes and load platforms with skyrockets, thousands of homemade skyrockets. By 5 PM, a conga line procession signals one team's challenge as their skyrockets blasts into the evening sky. Their explosions light up the plaza and two churches, and as the rockets reach a crescendo, the mortar rounds begin. 

The loud concussions from the launches and bursting displays overhead dominate the center of the city, and the crowd goes crazy. As the last explosion drifts to the ground, the competing team's conga drums and procession herald their preparedness to meet the challenge, and the sky is again painted with fireworks. As the mortars blast away, crew members’ light skyrockets held in their hands from the cigars in their mouths. This continues throughout the night, and by Christmas morning, the streets in the city center and the adjoining radius of two blocks are littered ankle-deep with spent rockets. Teenagers comb the debris for and ignite unexploded missiles. By the end of the day on the 26th, the city has cleaned up and is starting to plan for the following year.