Novembrinas: Las Fiestas de Independencia
Cartagena Te quiero!! I love Cartagena!!
November is a very special season of celebration in Cartagena because it is when the entire city erupts into fiestas to celebrate Independence Day. Las Fiestas de Independencia, also known as Las Fiestas Novembrinas, is a time filled with music, dancing, traditions, and so much fun. When I was there, we celebrated 211 years of the city’s Independence, and it was one of my absolute favorite experiences in Cartagena. While I tried to approach most things during my grant with very few expectations, I was definitely awaiting Novembrinas with a ton of anticipation, and the experiences I had blew any type of expectation I could’ve had out of the water!
Speaking of water, November is the month of Independence celebrations in Cartagena, but it is also unfortunately one of the worst months of the rainy season. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this aspect of the city in any of my previous blog posts, but when it rains in Cartagena, it pours! The drainage system in the city, especially in the historical center, is not very efficient, so the streets very easily fill up with water, making transportation really difficult. There are 2 rainy seasons in Cartagena, from September to November and from April to June, and during these periods most people seek cover and stay at home as much as possible. When it's not raining, which feels like most of the time in the city, it's extremely hot and sunny, so much so that I would always forget about how terrible the rain was until it came back.
Un grupo de Cumbia (there were a TON)
In true Costeño fashion, Cartagena’s Independence is celebrated for most of the week leading up until the actual Independence Day, and a lot of people have the week off from work. It rained for 3 days straight for hours at a time that week (like I said, when it rains, it pours), so a lot of the Independencia events and festivities had to be pushed back or completely canceled. However, by the end of the week, the sun came back out blazing like it never left. I was sooo grateful that the rain let up and that the festivities were able to carry on as normal, right on time for the main parade that takes place on November 11th, the day that Cartagena declared its Independence from Spain back in 1811.
Colombia’s national Independence Day is celebrated on July 20th, marking the day in 1810 when the very first uprising took place against Spanish rule in Bogotá. This was the start of the fight for Independence from the Spanish in New Granada, the Spanish Imperialist colony that encompassed what is modern-day Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Cartagena celebrates Independence Day on November 11th to mark the day that the city declared itself free from Spanish rule. This declaration was huge because it made Cartagena the very first Free Sovereign State in Colombia, and this was the start of many other colonies in South America following suit and rebelling against the Spanish. Cartagena was reclaimed by Spanish forces for a bit of time, but the initial Declaration of Independence was a monumental step towards the entire country eventually winning total freedom in 1819 with the Battle of Boyacá. Bottomline, the November 11, 1811 Declaration of Independence in Cartagena changed the course of history for Colombia and much of Latin America.
One of the many bands that played in the parade procession!
The Independence celebrations in Cartagena include several different events; street parties in many barrios, multiple parades with different themes, concerts, the national beauty pageant, and the local beauty pageant where princesses who’ve been selected to represent each of the barrios in Cartagena compete for the title of La Reina de Independencia (The Queen of Independence). Because of the rain, a lot of things that usually happen leading up to the 11th happened afterwards in the following week, but the event I enjoyed the most, and the event that is most important, the Desfile de Independencia, was able to happen on schedule for Independence Day.
The Aguardiente palco
One of the students in the University had connections to the organizers of the Desfile de Independencia, and very kindly hooked my friends and I up with some really discounted tickets for a spot in a palco, one of the many stands set up for viewing the parade which are usually really expensive and kind of impossible to get tickets for, so I was very thankful and super excited. Our palco was sponsored by Aguardiente Antioqueño, the traditional anise-flavored liquor that is featured at just about every single festival, party, y parche Colombiano. From our palco my friends and I enjoyed the parade, the live performances, music, dance, and Aguardiente of course!
Unas princesas! I was cheering for la princesa of my barrio, El Campestre!
The Desfile de Independencia runs along Avenida Santander, the main road that runs along the coast outside the walls of El Centro Histórico, so we felt a nice breeze coming from the ocean as we stood in our shaded palco. From there we saw many different groups in the parade; a ton of beautifully decorated floats, many music, dance, and theatrical groups, organizations like the national police, the national beauty pageant contestants, and the princesses from each neighborhood who were competing for the title of La Raina de Independencia. It was awesome!
Unas princesas!! The princess from barrio El Bosque became La Reina de Independencia 2022!!
Across from our palco there was a stage set up and we got to see a ton of Cartagenero musical legends perform live, including champeta artists Koffee el Kafetero, Zaider, Teiber Max, and the beloved Cartagenero salsa group Charanga Joven. It was such a treat because these artists’ music is all you hear all over the city, so it was amazing to see them live, and to be able to put a face to the name, or to the song rather! There was also a ton of traditional music and dance in the parade procession including Cumbia, Mapalé, Champeta, Salsa, Bullerengue, and much more. It felt so special to be there in-person, celebrating the Independence of the city I was growing to love so much, and getting to experience the joy that comes with gathering and celebrating together, especially because it was the return of the parade since the pandemic shut things down for the previous 2 years. I could feel a priceless memory being made there and I really relished every moment of it!
“La Marea” by Zaider, a famous Champeta artist in Cartagena
The famous Cartagenero salsa band CHARANGA JOVEN
The parade lasted for a few hours, and I was really glad we had spots in the palcos because we were shaded from the blazing sun, and in a spot that was quite a bit safer than the general viewing area. There is a lot of commotion during these festivities that sometimes deters people from attending, and I’ll explain a little bit more about that later on. The celebrations continued well into the night that day, and as it started to get dark my friends and I left the palco to eat something before continuing the festivities that night. We shared a huge pizza, hydrated, recuperated, then headed to a party happening in Callejón Ancho, one of the usual street-party spots in Getsemaní. Today was not a usual day though, it was El Día de Independencia, so the music was louder, there were sooo many more people, and there were a couple surprising elements unique to Novembrinas. It was wild but soooo much fun! If you are interested in partaking in the festivities there are a few things that you should know are commonly present at Las Fiestas de Independencia…
Okay, a lot is going on in this video: The National Police are dancing to the salsa anthem of Cartagena “Rebelión” by Joe Arroyo, Teiber Max is on stage performing his song “La Toxica“, and in the palco someone is spraying everyone in sight with espuma hahaha
One of the things that makes the fiestas a little crazy are that there are a ton of gunpowder trinkets that people set off during the festivities, the most common being Buscapies, which means foot-finder or foot searcher. It's a tiny explosive that once lit, meanders through the crowd at your feet, and for this reason they get their name because they “busca” (search for) the “pies” (feet) of passersby. A popular song for the season of Novembrinas is “Buscapies” by Son Cartagena, which illustrates the fun/chaos that comes from these things. There are some other variations as well; including Cuatro Golpes (four hits) another type of firecracker that lets out four loud bangs when lit, and the King Kong, a variation that lets out one deafening boom. Scary? Yes. Fun? Sort of… it's all in good spirits though. Buscapies have been a traditional part of the celebrations for years, for no other reason besides them being fun to detonate is what people told me hahah. These contraptions don’t make big enough explosions to blow things up, but you do however have to be careful because if your skin is exposed you can get burnt! Jeans and sneakers are a must for Novembrinas.
Before the espuma with my friend Dane…
And after!!! Plus a little bit of Maizena on my cheek hahaha
Another frequent occurrence is that people spray espuma (foam) on everyone and everything from cans that tons of vendors are selling on the streets. People also throw Maizena, which I learned after the fact is cornstarch. If I could choose between the two, I prefered the espuma because it eventually evaporates away, but sooooo many people I met during the festivities claimed that Maizena was super healthy for one’s hair and skin. If you refused the handful that they wanted to rub onto you, you would get accused of not being in the spirit of celebrating! Other people won’t even ask you and will just rub a handful into your hair or onto your face. People also paint each other blue, and if you feel a random hand on your face, you likely have blue paint there! Personal space is not really part of the social norms in Colombia, and it is damn near non-existent during Novembrinas. If you don’t like huge, compact, crowds or getting a little dirty, this is definitely not the event for you hahaha!
Mas bailarines!
The blue paint thing that I mentioned is likely related to a thing called Agua o Plata that happens during Novembrinas where kids (or adults) string out a chord to block the street and sidewalk, and like the name suggests, you either hand over some plata (money), or if not, te echen aqua (they spray you with water), or in some cases you or your car will get painted blue! This is another tradition that no one could properly explain the origins of to me, but it is common and done for fun in good spirits.
This is a Cumbia group, but they are dancing the the Champeta song playing over the loud speakers “La Toxia” by Teiber Max
Aside from jeans and sneakers to protect you from Buscapie burns, and sunglasses to avoid espuma or Maizena in your eyes, there is definitely an unofficial dress code for the Fiestas de Independencia. Floral and tropical shirts are very common. You’ll see a few women wearing face jewels that go beautifully with the tropical colors of their tops. I wish I knew about this beforehand so I could have worn some too! As far as hairstyles, a lot of women opt for box braids or other braided hairstyles, likely a nod to the African ancestry that most Cartageneros share, and to keep their hair protected from all of the espuma, Maizena and paint. A ton of men, especially younger guys, dye their hair bleach blond or other bright colors, like purple, red, or blue for the fiestas. A lot of men already have the signature Siete style that is popular throughout Colombia, where both sides are shaved on the side with the long patch of hair left from the front down the middle and back, (kinda like a mix between a fade, mohawk, and mullet) so this hair cut plus the dye job is really fun and festive.
Aside from tropical colors, you will also see a lot of people in disfraces (costumes) at the Fiestas de Independencia. There are a ton of men dressed in costumes to look like women, a few people who paint their entire bodies black, likely representing enslaved Africans, some people in costumes that I believe were meant to represent the Spanish, and a couple other random costumes. The costumes definitely shocked me, and never got a clear explanation from people I talked to about the history of the costumes, or why certain ones were used, but it definitely appeared to be a long-time tradition to use them. I realized from conversations I had with some Colombians about the possible controversy of the costumes that my perspective as a visitor was a bit different and little more sensitive to certain elements than theirs. They were pretty though-provoking conversations about representation, political-correctness, and personal freedoms. Ironically quite fitting during this season all about Independence!
This is another Cumbia group, doing the traditional dance that involves candles, a traditional hat called sombrero vueltiao, and the wide skirts of the womens’ dresses. Salsa group CHARANGA JOVEN is also playing live in the background.
All in all, the Fiestas de Independencia were phenomenal in Cartagena. It was amazing to get to celebrate the city, its history, and it's beautiful people. If you think you can handle just a little bit of chaos in order to partake in a really historically important and culturally rich celebration I absolutely recommend attending. And in case you were wondering, I‘ve included some of the 2022 Novembrinas soundtrack below. They’re a few of the songs that transport me back to a season that was the epitome of joy in Cartagena!
Rebelión (Joe Arroyo, La Verdad)
La Brujita - En Vivo (DJ Jader Tremendo, Koffe el Kafetero)
La Lapiz (Zaider)
La Toxica - Live (Juanda Iriarte, Minor P, Teiber Max)
La Invitación (CHARANGA JOVEN)
El Buscapies (Son Cartagena)
Caracoles de Colores (Diomedez Diaz, Ivan Zuleta)
Catalina (Mr Black El Presidente)
El Agite (Champeta & Mas Naa)
Amigoossss
