The story
Charangas de Bejucal in Bejucal
One of Cuba's three officially recognized national popular festivals alongside the Parrandas de Remedios and Carnaval de Santiago de Cuba, the Charangas de Bejucal trace to the colonial-era Misa del Gallo, evolving into two rival bands, blue-and-scorpion La Ceiba de Plata and red-and-rooster La Espina de Oro, competing each December through music, comparsas, plaza scenography and illuminated floats after a formal flag-raising on December 2.
The Charangas de Bejucal rank, alongside the Parrandas de Remedios and the Carnaval de Santiago de Cuba, as one of Cuba's three officially recognized national popular festivals, a designation reflecting a documented history running back to the colonial-era Misa del Gallo, the midnight Christmas Eve mass, when enslaved people were granted a rare day off to dance and play their own music around the church.