In the Colombian town of Quinamayó, Christmas is in February
Residents of Quinamayó, a small town in Colombia, celebrate Christmas every February.
Their ancestors, enslaved Africans, were barred from celebrating Christmas in December.
The celebrations include a costumed parade with Black baby Jesus and lots of music and dancing.
Every February, residents of Quinamayó, a town in southwest Colombia, celebrate Christmas.
The tradition began more than 150 years ago, when Quinamayó's ancestors, enslaved Africans, were prohibited from celebrating Christmas in December. Instead, they had to work through the holiday, serving at the slaveholders' festivities.
In an act of resistance and resilience, the enslaved Afro-Colombians started their own traditions and made Christmas their own. They picked mid-February because it was 45 days after the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus.
Thousands of people travel to Quinamayó in February to celebrate Christmas. Even whole amusement parks are trucked in.
Afro-Colombians have protected their tradition for decades as a symbol of their freedom and identity.
"It is an identity that has not been lost," Daniela Viáfara, an organizer of the event, told the Spanish news outlet EFE. "We are the ones who make this festival happen. We want to preserve this tradition."
Christmas festivities begin with Quinamayó's residents searching for a Black baby Jesus figurine, which is hidden somewhere in town.
Two children dressed up as Mary and Joseph lead a procession called 'The Road to Bethlehem.' Behind them, three teenagers play the role of godparents to Black baby Jesus.
Boys also dress in soldier uniforms to join the procession and help protect baby Jesus...
... while girls dress up as angels to watch over the figurine.
The whole town joins the Road to Bethlehem procession.
Women dress in traditional costumes and dance the juga, which is performed with shuffling feet to mimic how their enslaved ancestors had to walk with chained ankles.
The dance is also sometimes called fuga, or "flee."
"One identifies with those customs," Arbey Mina, a former director of the festival's official jugueritos band, told the New York Times. "In fact, that identity is not directly with slavery, but with what was done to show that one was free, that maybe the body was chained, but the soul had freedom."
Musicians called jugueritos play drums and trombones to accompany the dance.
"Through the rhythm of the drum we give an important message," Norman Viáfara, one of the festival's organizers, told the Times. "We tell the world, society in general, that we are ready and willing to also be able to reach the decision-making spaces."
Fireworks cap off the Quinamayó Christmas festivities, which often continue until the early morning.
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