all saints day - barriletes gigantes

my favorite was a box kite - this was one panel

the day after halloween is all saints day.  it's a national holiday in Guatemala and a day for the nationals to remember deceased family members.  it's typical for them to clean, decorate and picnic on the graves in the cemetaries.  they also fly kites which they believe to be a way to communicate with the spirits.  

in two of the towns outside of Antigua, Sumpango and Santiago, the kite building and flying has become quite competitive.  both of these towns celebrate with kite festivals which were highly recommended to me.











when i think of festivals, i think of sitting in traffic then wandering around a alcohol fueled crowd but this wasn't like that at all.  




it was an easy thirty minute ride from Antigua and the crowd was really tame.  i think it helped that they guy who was running our shuttle knew exactly where to go so we were dropped right at the kite field.

the kites which are massive can take months to build.  they use indigenous materials to glue the paper together.  the small kites are 30 feet in diameter - the largest are 90 feet tall.  that's a lot of glue and paper.

conquistadors still very much a presence here

into the air

getting a thirty foot kite into the air is no small task but it's clear the rope teams are experienced and well organized.  it takes the length of the soccer field to get them into the air and there is a blow by blow commentary from the stage which is hilarious even when i only understand half of it. there are crashes and near misses and the crowd is really wrapped up in the drama.  


it's mesmerizing to watch the kites floating in the sky and when they have four or five aloft at the same time it's really entrancing.

in Sumpango the kites are kept on a soccer field separate from the cemetary which i skipped because i felt like it would be more than a little voyeristic.  talking to people afterward i heard the nationals were not so happy to see tourists walking over and photographing graves - so was glad to have skipped that part.  i had been invited to join a family on what would have been a more intimate experience but i declined wanting the freedom to wander and observe without the concerns of what was culturally appropriate.

i think of kites as being playful toys for kids but the themes on these kites were very sophisticated and left me staring at each one to decipher the meaning.  corruption, conquistadors, peace and the planet were all depicted.

corruption

the day was filled with surprises, it was an awesome experience and the kites were amazing.  i felt so lucky to get to see this incredible expression of the Guatemalan culture.