Customes
Masaya´s Traditional Celebrations
Saint Jerome´s parties are one of the largest traditional celebrations in Nicaragua that show our national identity through our artistic expressions .In Masaya, the Nicaraguan folklore cradle, Saint Jerome is the patron saint who has been celebrated for thousands of years. People make parties with so much joyfulness, music and Nicaraguan idiosyncrasy to honor San Jerome from August to October; there are many religious and popular activities, but two of the jazziest celebrations are “The Agüizotes” and “The Torovenado”. The Agüizotes are a popular celebration in which ghosts, legends and specters meet to come alive again an indigenous tradition that reflects imagination, beliefs and the history of a town which built a magic world from the reality of that time. The starting point of The Agüizotes is in Monimbo city, an indigenous community that leads this celebration the last Friday of October every year. According to some elders of Masaya, The Agüizotes started when citizens celebrated the death of their loved ones on the ninth day, and they walked around the main streets with painted faces, black clothes and oil lamps to scare bad spirits and souls in pain, then they did prayers for the eternal rest and offered them to Saint Jerome, this was called “The Oil lamp procession”. Now, it has changed its idea, people do not celebrate any death, they only celebrate the bulls ´songs like The Yellow Bird executed by a philharmonic band, they also wear masks, black dresses and oil lamps. At 8pm, Masaya has a great black festival with fire, blood, and many mythical monsters such as the Mocuana, the headless father, the monkey woman, the Cegua, and devils. The Torovenado is another famous celebration. It is a procession at noon, like a street theater, where people make jokes, satires, and representations of famous people of the Government, Sports or the field of culture. This celebration is the last Sunday of October, and it starts in
Saint Jerome´s parties are one of the largest traditional celebrations in Nicaragua that show our national identity through our artistic expressions .In Masaya, the Nicaraguan folklore cradle, Saint Jerome is the patron saint who has been celebrated for thousands of years. People make parties with so much joyfulness, music and Nicaraguan idiosyncrasy to honor San Jerome from August to October; there are many religious and popular activities, but two of the jazziest celebrations are “The Agüizotes” and “The Torovenado”. The Agüizotes are a popular celebration in which ghosts, legends and specters meet to come alive again an indigenous tradition that reflects imagination, beliefs and the history of a town which built a magic world from the reality of that time. The starting point of The Agüizotes is in Monimbo city, an indigenous community that leads this celebration the last Friday of October every year. According to some elders of Masaya, The Agüizotes started when citizens celebrated the death of their loved ones on the ninth day, and they walked around the main streets with painted faces, black clothes and oil lamps to scare bad spirits and souls in pain, then they did prayers for the eternal rest and offered them to Saint Jerome, this was called “The Oil lamp procession”. Now, it has changed its idea, people do not celebrate any death, they only celebrate the bulls ´songs like The Yellow Bird executed by a philharmonic band, they also wear masks, black dresses and oil lamps. At 8pm, Masaya has a great black festival with fire, blood, and many mythical monsters such as the Mocuana, the headless father, the monkey woman, the Cegua, and devils. The Torovenado is another famous celebration. It is a procession at noon, like a street theater, where people make jokes, satires, and representations of famous people of the Government, Sports or the field of culture. This celebration is the last Sunday of October, and it starts in