While the whole Dominican Republic is celebrating the Christmas holidays, another festival is being celebrated known simply as the Festival of the Bulls in San Juan Bautista de Bayaguana. This traditional cattle festival starts from December 28 and ends on January 1 with the offering of the Bulls. The offering of the Bulls is giving thanks to the Santo Cristo for rains that shower their crops.
The tradition started when a group of farmers decided to offer a bull to Santo Cristo to stop the ongoing draught and to pray for rain. The crops then were already withering, fruits were drying, and the cattle were dying that the prospects for the farmers surviving the year were very bleak. A few days after sacrificing the bull the rains started to fall, crops, and animals were saved and the tradition started.
This festival has been going since 1604. What made the festival a strong crowd drawer apart from the bulls and the return of rains stopping the draught are the miracles attributed to the festival. First, the apparition of Jesus Christ to a little girl praying for a cure for her mother's blindness that returned the mother sight shortly after the apparition. Second, a paralytic praying to participate in the festival stood and walked. In 1924, during the feast day, American Troops left Santo Domingo while the church bells rang by themselves.
Confirmed by the Catholic Church or not, commemorating the first event in 1604 was strengthened. In order for the festival to be successful, the Commissioners of Santo Cristo de los Milagros go around the region several days before the event to request for bulls. The faithful, on the other hand, offers the animal as a confirmation of their faith and expression of their thanks.
Every year on December 28, the commissioners, wranglers, and the public enter the town square towing their bulls for consecration. The procession while a solemn one is far from being silent. Dominicans celebrate the day the best way they know how, with joy. A municipal band, led procession of people singing, praying, dancing and the ever present firecrackers. That is only the start of a four-day event. During the evenings, there are more singing, chanting, dancing, and imbibing of coffee, rum, and jengibre. The songs chanted are improvised verses sung a capella with alternate leaders taking their turns while the rest joins in the refrains like a choir. For outsiders, the scene would be far from the normal images of sacrificing but an all night four days partying.
On January 1, people from all over the country gather to participate in masses offered as thanksgiving for miracles and prayers granted and favors granted by Jesus Christ for the past year. This is the most solemn and inspiring part of the festival. After that the mass the people gather outside some to buy the bulls, some to trade them with something else but the proceeds go to the church to be used for church programs.
The best times of the year to visit the Dominican Republic is during one of its holidays. Doing so will give you a good taste of the nation's culture and people.
The Dominican Republic holidays are roughly divided into three – the official public holidays, the festival holidays, and the fiestas patronales. National public holidays consist of secular holidays that are recognized by the Dominican Republic as its official holidays. Usually, these are non-working holidays, thus allowing the Dominicans to celebrate as a nation.
The secular holidays are the:
- New Year's Day on January 1 (Celebrations begin on New Year's Eve)
- Three Kings or the Epiphany on January 6
- Dia de la Altagracia or Our Lady of Altagracia on January 21 (Celebrations are held in honor of the Protector and Queen of the Hearts of the Dominican People.)
- Duarte's Day on January 26 (Otherwise known as Duarte's Birthday, this celebration is held in commemoration of one of Dominican Republic's founding fathers, Juan Pablo Duarte.)
- Independence Day on February 27 (This marks the liberation of Dominican Republic from foreign rule.)
- Good Friday on April (As part of the Holy Week or 'Semana Santa', Good Friday is celebrated by
Dominicans to commemorate the death of Jesus Christ in the Cavalry.)
- Labor Day on May 1 (The nation joins the entire world in celebrating this holiday.)
- Corpus Christi, which is celebrated in June, on a Thursday (This is celebrated exactly 60 days after Easter to commemorate the institution of one of the Catholic Church's sacraments – the Holy Eucharist.)
- Restoration Day or Día de Restauración on August 16 (This holiday celebrates the freedom regained by the Dominicans after a brief period of Spanish occupation.)
- Our Lady of las Mercedes on September 4 (This is the holiday set part in honor of the nation's Patron Saint.)
- Constitution Day on November 6 (This marks the day when the first constitution of the Dominican Republic was created and adopted.)
- Christmas Day on December 25 (Although officially starting with a Christmas dinner on December 24th, the Dominicans celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ as a nation on the 25th.)
These secular holidays are mostly celebrated by the entire nation. The next set of holidays in the Dominican Republic compose mainly of regional festivals. Some of them are:
- The Cocolo Festival on January 1. This honors the African-European traditions of the Cocolo tribe who migrated to Hispaniola during the 16th century.
- The month-long festival, called the Carnaval, that is celebrated by over 100,000 nationwide.
- The week-long observance of the 'Semana Santa' in March or April. Church services are held in most towns. This coincides with the Voodo festivals held by the Haitian in the country.
- The Puerto Plata Cultural Festival that is celebrated in June. It is a 3-day long festival that is dedicated to Latin music.
- The Merengue Festival of Santo Domingo from the third week of July and generally to the 1st week of August.
- The Festival of the Bulls in Higüey on the 14th of August.
- The Jazz Festival that is widely celebrated in Cabarete and Sosua. It is usually held on the first week of October.
- The All Saints Day, which just like in the rest of the world, is held on the 1st day of November.
Finally are the Fiestas Patronales, the celebrations held in honor of the Patron Saints of the various towns , municipalities and provinces in the Dominican Republic. There are hundreds of these celebrated in one year. A handful of the most popular patronage holidays are the: San Felipe of the Puerto Plata Malecon, San Fernando of Monte Cristi, San Juan Bautista of Bani, San Antonio of Bonao and Sosua, and Saint Andrew of Boca Chica.
What better time to travel to a new place than on a country's holiday? Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean region. Get to know the country's people and tradition. Live a life of festivities and fun in this culturally rich country.
Dominican Republic has a good mix of Spanish, French and African cultures. Here is a list of holidays and a first quarter year calendar of the events that you might want to look into when planning a trip to this country.
• The feast of the Epiphany this year is on January 6th. The Epiphany is one of the most important holidays in the Catholic calendar. It celebrates God coming to us in the form of his son, Jesus Christ. When you come to Dominican Republic during the feast of the Epiphany, you will experience and see how Dominicans are passionate about their beliefs and traditions.
• January 21st is the feast of Our Lady of Altagracia. This is a national holiday for Mary. If you want to go to the country on this time, don't forget to visit the largest Marian shrine in the country, located at Higuey.
• Duarte's day is held on January 26th this year. This is a very important holiday for the country. Juan Pablo Duarte is one of the founding fathers of Dominican Republic.
• February 27th is the country's Independence Day. This is a non-working national holiday. A visit to the country's capital, Santo Domingo is bound to give you a holiday full of festivities.
• Holy Week. One of the best ways to celebrate holy week is to visit Dominican Republic. Enrich your soul through its rich catholic traditions. Be a part of various events and celebrations that take place in all parts of the country.
• Restoration day, a non-working holiday, is on August 16th. On this day, the country remembers the Dominican restoration war that happened between 1863 and 1865.
• The feast of Virgen de las Mercedes is on September 24th. According to the locals, Virgen de las Mercedes appeared to a group of Spanish soldiers when they were fighting against the Taino Indians. The Lady also had several apparitions on Santo Cerro. A church was built in the area in her honor.
• Other holidays of Dominican Republic are constitution day on November, Christmas Eve and Christmas day on December.
Aside from the country's holidays, you can also plan a trip to Dominican Republic and be part of some of this year's events.
The Laser Midwinter Regatta is held yearly and starts on January. This event marks the start of the laser regatta calendar. The National Symphony Orchestra Season runs through the whole month of January at Eduardo Brito National Theatre in Santo Domingo, the country's capital. The Humpback Whales Observation Season is a 3-month event that will be held from January 15 until March 15.
Dominican Republic has a very rich story and traditions. Plan your trip by choosing any of their holidays so you can experience a trip full of festivities and fun.
Any visitor new to the Dominican Republic will find a bewildering array of celebrations, festivities, holidays, and everything else in between. In fact, in the Dominican Republic, something fun is always happening somewhere every day of the year.
In most of the Catholic world, 'Semana Santa' or the Holy Week is a time for reflection, prayer, attrition and silence and other practices that generally encourage the faithful for time of quiet. This traditional practice has been going on for centuries at different degrees of relative silence in different Catholic countries all over.
The Dominican Republic with its own unique way of observing holidays practices, Semana Santa, a high point in Catholic worship, is celebrated in a way that only Dominicans could pull off. The general manner is very respectful, solemn, and prayerful. In fact, every tradition and method of worship is practiced and implemented by the Catholic hierarchy and observed by its people. But then again, why carry a sour countenance when this is the most important day of a people's salvation? Off to the beaches we go.
As if conditions encourage it, the weather from March to April, the week in which Semana Santa is celebrated, is ideal. For a tropical maritime nation, in fact, there is little choice other than to sulk in a corner. The water is incredibly clear, the weather is warm, there is a lot of sunshine, offices are closed, the food is great, and tourism is at its peak. Except for motorized water equipment and water sports, which the government bans during the season due to past numerous accidents, everything is perfect, which brings us to the only downside of spending Semana Santa in the island.
The beaches are packed, hotels the same. This is the Caribbean Sea and there is just that thing in the Caribbean that lures people from everywhere, in the Dominican Republic, this is more so. To top it, Dominicans love their beaches and the well-heeled can get reservations in the hotels quicker than anybody can. If the idea is to spend Semana Santa in the island, bookings are to be done very early.
Otherwise, spending Semana Santa in the Dominican Republic is by all accounts the most colorful Holy Week anyone could experience. Catholic traditions and celebrations are the same everywhere except that in with the Dominicans, there is a twist. Processions are a tradition in the church anywhere but here, you will get to chase that jerk, Judas. It all starts on a Thursday. People will be dressing up like Jews, centurions and other outlandish colorful fun costume and chase a running man rattling a tin can representing the payoff from selling Jesus. These are all for fun though. The excitement is whether Judas could elude his chasers, (many times he actually does) or not. It is a wild, colorful, and noisy event full of action and excitement.
Of course anyone who tires of that could always have rivers to ford, beaches to get the tan, hills to climb and snorkeling to do.
As the entire Dominican Republic celebrate the opening of the New Year on January 1st, some Dominicans hold events that give importance to one of the dying yet very prominent traditions in the land in a feast called the Cocolo Festival.
When the wave of African immigrants moved into Hispaniola during and after the Spaniards have settled in the land, they have brought many traditions with them that now compose the fibers of the Dominicans' culture. Among the groups of ethnic immigrants was the Cocolo tribe which originated from the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles. They are largely known as the English-speaking Caribbean people who brought with them a culture that has the elements of both the European and African cultures. It is, as many people have said before, the culmination of the merging of the cultures of the African slaves and the European colonizers. Although they still have retained their political and social economic authority.
Years after they have settled in Hispaniola, the Cocolo dancing drama tradition have developed. It was, among their own educational system and religion, the most distinct expressions of their culture. It was its peak during the mid-nineteenth century. In recent times, the assimilation of the Cocolo descendants with the majority of the Dominicans have caused the disintegration of the Cocolo's culture. Although, as is apparent in some areas in the Dominican Republic, the Cocolo dancing drama tradition is still very much alive.
In its original form, the dancing drama is performed on Christmas and on Carnavals. Nowadays, it is performed only in January in San Pedro de Macoris, a province in the Dominican Republic where the Cocolos originally settled.
The Cocolo Festival features the music, dances and songs that are patterned in the tunes of the original Cocolo music. These have African and European influences which make them very unique in the Dominican Republic, if not distinct from every other music in the world.
The music, for example, is patterned after the African pace and the dances have the steps and movements particular to the African court. Although when these are dramatized, they become an entirely different art form. They become almost exclusively European because of the themes and stories adopted. Among the most typical stories performed in the Cocolo Festival is the Mumme's Play, thus the Festival has become associated with street dancers and performers called the 'Mummers'. This tells of the story about St. George and his enemy. In summary, this reflects the main theme of the Cocolo dance drama – the battle between good and evil.
Other dance dramas and games usually performed at the Cocolo Festival are the 'Guloyas' and the 'Baile del Buey'. The 'Guloyas' consist of several groups of dancers who perform a variety of dances. Among the many they showcase is the 'Dance of Stilts' which requires dancers to dance on high stilts while wearing pompous jackets. The 'Baile del Buey', meanwhile, is performed by a festival character whose main features are identified with the bull.
The Cocolo Festival, although less popular than other Dominican Republic holidays, is indeed among the nation's more important heritage. It is no wonder that UNESCO has chosen it as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
