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On Sunday the 27th of March, the town of La Romana came to life as more than 40 different carnaval comparsas paraded through the streets for the annual La Romana Carnaval, which was sponsored by Plaza Lama.
As one of the members of the judging team, I, along with my fellow judges; Philip Silvestri, Martha Victoria, Ricardo Bello, José Reyes Bisonó, Jean Pierre Santoni and Jorge Sturla among others, were given a special viewing platform from where we were able to watch the carnaval float, flap and frolick by, from a relatively safe distance and from a great vantage point – perfect for judging, but of course perfect for taking great photos and videos!The judges and VIP spectators were accommodated in a special area, where we were well cared for by Plaza Lama, who kept us well fed and watered with snacks, refreshment and a few Presidente beers!
Here I share with you my account of the carnaval, along with my photos – which now that I have a new super dooper camera and I had my star camera man (Philip) taking photos – I have some really great photos for you! I hope you enjoy them! The Carnaval began on Dominican time at 4:30pm (scheduled to start at 3pm) with the ‘Rey y Reina’ (king and queen) of the Carnaval, who were to everyone’s delight the Los Toros mascot ‘El Torito’ accompanied by Luisa Maria Ortiz, who was dressed as a ‘Cañita’ (sugarcane) and were flanked by a somewhat random group of ‘motoristas’ (motorists), who were playing music and clearing the way for the rest of the parade – among whom we spotted some naughty Hogar del Niño volunteers, who had managed to sneak their way onto a truck to take part in the parade!
Next came the 19 ‘invited’ comparsas, who, having already taken part in parades and carnavals in their own areas, travelled from all over the Dominican Republic to take part in the La Romana Carnaval! There were comparsas from Puerto Plata, Barahona, Santiago, Bonao, El Seibo and Higuey, to name but a few, as well as comparsas from the Dominican Republic’s most famous, biggest and most gregarious carnaval: La Vega.
El Torito and Luisa Maria Cañita lead the parade!
The most thrilling (as well as scary) part of the ‘invited’ section of the Carnaval were the Diablos Cajuelos with the ‘latigos’, which are are a type of giant rope whip, which the Diablos swing and snap in the air to make a huge cracking sound, which sounds a little like thunder. With these beautiful and brightly colored Diablos, cracking their whips above the heads of the crowd – the side walk and road was soon cleared of people – as everyone ran for cover!
Brightly colored Diablos Cajuelos dance through the streets, waving their ‘vejigas’ and beating anyone who came to close!
To end the ‘invited’ section of the parade were a group of individuals who were all dressed in a collection of weird, wonderful and rather innovative costumes – many of whom had won prizes for the best ‘individual’ costume in their own hometown parade. Perhaps the most controversial in this group was one called ‘Llego JaJa’, a funny (and critical) take on the political campaign ‘Llego Papa’ of Presidential candidate (and past President) Hipolito Mejia.
Diablo Cajuelo with his ‘latigo’
“Llego JaJa”
Here are some other of the funny ‘individual’ costumes:
Then the ‘La Romana’ section of the parade began and I had to put my judging hat on, to judge the passing comparsas and costumed individuals for their creativity, choreography and originality. By this time it felt like every person in La Romana had taken to the streets to join in with or watch the parade, as the street was jammed full with Diablos Cajuelos, dancing girls, musicians, floats, animals, vehicles and thousands of supporters, bustling along with the carnaval enjoying the show and the atmosphere.
The street became a blur of colors, music and dancing
The highlight was when, in amongst the Diablos Cajuelos, witches, dancing girls, las cañeras and los indios, much to the delight of the crowd, came a Central Romana sugar cane train! The sugar cane train is a very typical sight in La Romana – as it brings in tonnes and tonnes of sugar cane every day (in season) for sugar production in the Central Romana sugar factory. Of course this wasn’t a real train – but a very convincing replica, complete with sugar cane which was thrown out to the crowd!
The Central Romana Sugar Cane Train from ‘El Seibo’
Thereby followed a whole host of impressive, awe-inspiring and wild costumes, comparsas and choreography, until an hour later the wonderful parade dwindled to a few horses and some random pedestrians following on behind and we all went home with sore eyes from all the bright colors!
For now here are some of my favorite photos:
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