Alternative Colombian Easter: the San Antero Donkey Festival

 

If the Wanderlust strikes you this Easter week, but you really don’t feel like long religious processions between churches (beautiful and fascinating…but it’s a lot of walking, and we’re on holiday!), then there’s at least one rather alternative Colombian festival that you might be interested in…I’m talking, of course, about the Festival del Burro, or Donkey Festival, held yearly during Easter, in the little Caribbean coastal town of San Antero.

Everything about this festival strikes me as unusual: costumed donkeys…check; wait, actually that’s all a festival needs for me to consider it unusual! And this festival has plenty of fancy-dress donkeys. In fact, it’s pretty much the basis of the whole celebration.

 

 

Conceived as a sort of ‘thank you’ for the hard-work that donkeys do in helping Colombian farmers every year, the festival sees a parade of donkeys, all dressed to the nines in a costume of their owner’s choosing, usually a Colombian hero or world-famous celebrity. I can’t help but feel that an extra carrot and a sugar lump would have been thanks enough, but, hey, what do I know, right?! Although the prospect of seeing a Carlos Valderrama donkey would probably be too good a chance to pass up…

The festival began in the early 20th century, but looked quite different then: originally the only donkey involved was carrying an effigy of Judas Iscariot to be burned as punishment for betraying Jesus. Eventually, people realized that the whole donkey thing was a lot more fun, and the donkeys took over as the central part of the whole celebration. It’s not too Easter-y…but then, neither are eggs, if you think about it.

 

 

The donkeys sporting the best costumes are crowned as King and Queen of the festival, and presumably given a week off. The whole thing is also a good excuse for the people of San Antero to enjoy street parties, live music, delicious food and drink, and a frolic on the town’s white-sand beaches. Sounds pretty good to me…

Chris