Venezuelans Honor San Juan Bautista in Annual Festival

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Musical troupes from across the region come to Curiepe to perform traditional San Juan rhythms and dances (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis)

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The Tovar family has watched over and taken care of San Juan for nearly three centuries. San Juan resides in the San Juan House along the main square of Curiepe (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis).

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Devotees to San Juan arrive to the San Juan House and pay homage to the saint adorning his figure with flowers, instruments and letters outlining their wishes (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis).

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One wall of the San Juan House features images of past celebrations over the decades (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis).

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Miranda State’s official poster for the San Juan festivities (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis).

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On the corner of the main square opposite of Curiepe’s Cultural House, drummers play El Mina and Culo é paya which are characteristic of this celebration (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis).

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Vendors sell variety of San Juan related paraphernalia and other commemorative goods including dolls, miniature drums, bandanas and flags (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis).

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Political murals adorn most Venezuelan towns and major cities. In Curiepe, this mural reads: “We Stand with Maduro” (Jeanette Charles/Venezuela Analysis).

The San Juan Bautista Festival in Curiepe, Brión has roots in Afro-Venezuelan tradition and resistance as the site of a former cumbe (maroon society in English). On June 1st, the Cathedral's bells chime at mid-day inaugurating the celebreations. Until dusk, Venezuelans gather in Curiepe's Plaza Bolívar to usher in San Juan Bautista with Afro-Venezuelan druming and dancing.

Enslaved Africans during the colonial period in Venezuela would escape the plantations from June 23-25. These days were marked by festivities to celebrate the annual harvests and Juan Congo, whose image was transformed over time into the Catholic figure of San Juan Bautista. The community of Curiepe continues to pay homage to Juan Congo whose celebration takes place the weekend following San Juan Bautista. However, of the two celebrations,  San Juan Bautista has become the more prevalent in Venezuela.

Afro-Venezuelan communities across the country carry out their respective San Juan traditions from the coast to the central valleys. In Curiepe, along the Caribbean coast in Miranda State, the Tovar family has housed San Juan Bautista from generation to generation.

On June 23rd, they remove San Juan each year from his home and guide a procession throughout Curiepe. This year, San Juan will travel from the Casa de San Juan to the Cultural House and to church for mass. The celebrations, accompanied by Afro-Venezuelan drumming,  serve not only as a marker of the African influence in Venezuelan culture but also allude to the forms of communication between African peoples during times of resistance.