November Fests in Cartagena.

— noun —

1. the commemorative date that celebrates the independence of Cartagena in 1811.

2. popular festivals are held in Cartagena from November 1 to 11. The inhabitants of the neighborhoods throughout the city drink, dance, and celebrate being from Cartagena.

Few things are as important in Cartagena as an epic party. Many of the city’s residents are born and in the middle of a rum-fuelled celebration and will continue to tear things up until someone turns the light off, for good!

In a seemingly endless list of parties in this hot and carefree city, there is one particularly raucous shindig that trumps the rest year-after-year.

The November Fiestas take place to celebrate the city’s independence from its Spanish conquerors, originally decreed on November 11, 1811. Independence was commanded by the riotous Cuban metalsmith Pedro Romero and the spearmen of Getsemaní.

In 1812, just one year after liberation, the people of Cartagena began the traditional celebrations in honor of the most important date in the history of the independence of Colombia.

After enduring a subsequent siege led by monarchist Pablo Morillo in 1816, the city gained its celebrated nickname and became known to the rest of Colombia simply as La Heroica (the heroic city) and has since enjoyed the festivities like someone is going to take their freedom away from them. Never again.

It’s the one time of year that those from the impoverished neighborhoods to the south of the city can run riot in Cartagena’s historic city center, sending many of its wealthy residents fleeing to Miami or Bogota for a holiday.

“The November festivities, or rather, the Cartagena Carnival Festivities, are born as a spirit of rebellion and freedom in the middle of the colony,” says Rafael Escallon Miranda who for more than two decades has devoted himself to studying the phenomenon of La Champeta and the popular practices of the city. “These parties are anti-colonial you cannot lose sight of that”.

“The preservation of the Afro and indigenous cultural fragments remained strategically buried in Christian religious festivals. That is why you see a festival that is very similar to the procession of the Virgen de la Candelaria, only that here there are men and women disguised as cobras and marimondas", says Escallón.

Beyond the reasons and motives for which people celebrate, the truth is that November in Cartagena has become synonymous with madness, uproar, drunkenness, street fights, and the occasional death.

The party starts in full on November 1. After Halloween, the atmosphere in the city changes in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, small groups of people appear one by one in the streets listening to the music blaring out from their cars and the monstrous home entertainment sound systems dragged out from the front room onto the street to play the local anthems. The beer and rum flows. The madness is just beginning.

Although in Cartagena, the festivities officially begin between November 5 and 6, people do not care about this little and nothing. November is the month that Cartagena’s fun-loving residents let their demons loose.

The ritual includes high doses of cornstarch, cold beers, cheap rum, gunpowder, and plenty of music, served up at full volume.

It rains a lot too. Water, flour, cornstarch, colored dyes, foam, and in the background sounds "El Buscapie”, a classic musical by Hugo Bustillo that in the last thirty years has become the anthem of the Cartagena festivities.

Disorder and chaos reign on the streets as some take it as an opportunity to shake down revelers to keep the rum flowing. 

In 2017 alone, seven people died during the Fiestas. Throw alcohol onto the flames simmering in neighborhoods and intrafamilial violence and cases of domestic violence register a dramatic increase.

And people continue to celebrate. Last year due to the restrictions caused by the covid-19, people were forced to remain silent. That had happened in 1899 with the thousand-day war and in 1965 with the explosion of a dynamite deposit in Getsemani.

The pinnacle of the event are the parades. The bando weaves its way through along the city’s main thoroughfare to celebrate November 11 and in some of the more traditional neighborhoods on the days after and before.

These cabildos, the traditional name given to the musical parades, are characterized by long processions of people dressed in mythical and colorful garments.

During these festivities, the musical heritage and rhythmic DNA of the people of Cartagena, explodes onto the streets,  to displace the hardships of life albeit momentarily.

The noise and the alcohol are there to drown out the pain, a chance to leave behind the troubles of the past. 

In some senses, the music and the dance are there to exorcise the pent-up feelings of historic subjugation. To throw off the mantle of slavery, the whipping, and the shackles transform them into euphoric encounters with music and dance. 

Those deep wounds of conquest purged through a mass of rhythmic bodies dancing to a single beat, a joyful multitude of wanton abandon, moved for a moment to forget their scars and look forwards.

Worth Exploring:

Champeta and life

Discover the story behind the rhythm to which everyone dances in Cartagena

Discover the Real Cartagena: If you've already danced to Cartagena's colonial melody and want to tap into a more local beat, this authentic voyage into four of Cartagena's most traditional barrios will be right up your street.

Fiestas Lowdown: Check out all the events happening in Cartagena during the Fiestas de November here.

Published: 21.10.2021

Text by: Emilio Cabarcas
Caribbean lover. Cartagena-based journalist and writer with more than seven years of experience creating community, and cultural journalism with heart and passion. He’s been involved in shaping the editorial tone at This Is Travel and A B I T A T and his award-winning magazine, Cuatro Palabras. His particular brand of community journalism supports initiatives with NGOs, local entities, communities, and media outlets. He is also the co-creator of the Escuela Política Territorial, Periferias Magazine, and the Colectivo Femenino Candelaria. He currently coordinates the press and communications officer for the Mayor of Turbaco.

Photos: Rainbow Nelson
A creative soul with a passion for storytelling and a drive to build a better world for my children. I love to discover new things and share my findings with others through my writing and the businesses I have built to share my experience with others. A decade in my own start-ups has taught me to embrace challenges, enjoy problem-solving and listen to others. I'm a team-builder with great language skills, a good old-fashioned Anglo-Saxon work ethic, and a UK passport packed in my carry-on luggage ready-and-waiting for the next adventure.