STEEMCHURCH: In the Church of Our Lady of Carmen | Mass of the Madamas will mark the start of the El Callao Carnival this Sunday

With the celebration of the traditional Mass of the Madamas, in the Church of Our Lady of Carmen in El Callao, Bolívar state, this Sunday morning will start the carnival party of greater renown in the Venezuelan southeast and which aspires to become at the end of this year in Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity.

This Mass is celebrated year after year for more than a century in the Church of Our Lady of Carmen, located on the south side of Plaza Bolivar and which is dedicated to the patron saint of this mining town, whose inhabitants have a very cultural mix particular, in which Venezuelan and Afro-descendent Creoles from the French and British colonies of the Antilles are combined.

All young women from 15 years of age and single and married adults, dressed in elaborate costumes in colorful fabrics, multicolored turbans and a large number of jewels and necklaces, in the style of the clothes worn by 19th century Callaoan matrons, will participate. attend the Sunday Mass.

Once finished, the madamas will be the first to start the parade and dance of the carnival, in a circuit that will depart from Plaza Bolívar and will tour for 3 consecutive days all the streets of El Callao.

Behind them will parade groups of "Negros Medio-Pinto" with their bodies painted oil that "threaten" to embrace and stain who does not give them a "medium", alluding to the economic contribution that was customary to pay more than 100 years.

Devils groups will also march, which in the case of El Callao is represented by 13 schools or brotherhoods of children, youth and adults who with large and elaborate masks beat their whips against the floor calling the "sinners" to atone for their faults.

These characters are a sample of the cultural mix of El Callao, which was born in the mid-nineteenth century with the arrival of large numbers of workers brought by European companies that had concessions for the exploitation of the abundant gold present in the subsoil of El Callao and neighboring areas, a resource that today continues to be the largest economic and productive activity that thousands of families in the south of the state depend on.

During the last eight years, the El Callao Carnival has become one of the largest parties of its kind in the country, since it went from about 15,000 visitors, in 2004, to more than 70,000 in recent editions, thanks to the support received of the National Government and the government of Bolivar in matters of security, organization and the participation of the people and local cultores.

The governor of the entity, Francisco Rangel Gómez, stressed the importance of preserving the Carnivals of El Callao and recalled that they are the festivals of their type with greater tradition in the country, with an age that exceeds 110 years.

In 2014, they were declared by the National Government as Cultural Heritage of Venezuela and at the moment they are working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) so that this carnival is recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, taking into account that it is a unique manifestation in its type from the artistic, cultural, historical and social point of view.

"We are sure that with the organization of the cultists and people of El Callao and the support of the National Government in the next edition of these carnivals we will already be enjoying the title of world cultural heritage," he said.

The president also came across right-wing sectors that criticize the government's support for this celebration, citing the fall in oil revenues and the general situation of the economy.

"Precisely in such difficult times as now it is necessary to safeguard the cultural heritage, identity, patriotism and traditions, so even with criteria of austerity our people will celebrate their carnivals in harmony and with great joy," he said.
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