Las Parrandas
On UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Photo: Raudelct, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On one night of the year, the two rival neighbourhoods of a central Cuban town unveil what they have built in secret for months — towering light displays, floats with living statues and thousands of rockets — in the Parrandas that began in Remedios in 1820.
Two neighbourhoods, one night
According to UNESCO, the Parrandas were held for the first time in 1820 in the town of Remedios and are now celebrated by eighteen communities in the centre of Cuba. Each town is divided into two neighbourhoods or parties, which work all year to prepare their display and compete on the night of the festival, while “spies” try to spoil the surprise of the other side. Everyone takes part, regardless of class, age, religion or background, building replicas of monuments, floats and costumes, writing songs and dances, preparing fireworks and making lanterns, banners and emblems for their neighbourhood.
Besides Remedios, the best-known Parrandas are held in towns such as Camajuaní, Vueltas, Zulueta, Chambas and Guayos, in the provinces of Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Ávila.
Rumba, floats and rockets
The night follows a set order of events. Around 10 pm the first neighbourhood announces its rumba with a palenque, a firework that rises almost silently and bursts with a huge bang above the crowd, and its musicians and dancers try to drag as many people as possible along with them; then the other side replies. The rumba grew from children making noise into music and verses teasing the rival district, played on cowbells, drums and the local atambora, with trumpets added in the 1930s.
Next come the great displays. In Remedios these are the trabajos de plaza, huge structures of light in the square; elsewhere they are floats, towering constructions covered in bulbs and fantasy decor, hauled by a tractor, with costumed figures who must stand as still as statues while the legend of the float is read out. Finally come the fireworks: lines of rockets three or four blocks long, some 20,000 in a single run, ending with booming mortars that announce the end of a district’s display.
When it happens
In Remedios, where the tradition began, the Parrandas run from Christmas Eve into Christmas Day. The other communities of central Cuba hold theirs on their own dates, mostly towards the end of the year.
- December 24 – 25, 2026Calculated
- December 24 – 25, 2027Calculated
- December 24 – 25, 2028Calculated
- December 24 – 25, 2029Calculated
Visiting with respect
Stay safe
- Opportunistic crime has increased with Cuba’s economic difficulties. Keep valuables out of sight in the crowds and take care at night.
Sources
This entry was written from the following sources.
- Festivity of Las Parrandas in the centre of CubaUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage · read September 17, 2026
- ParrandasWikipedia · read September 17, 2026
- Cuba travel advice: safety and securityUK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office · read September 17, 2026
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