Every year before Easter, Guatemala gets a splash of vivid colors for the Holy Week festivities. In a country marred by cultural divisions and deep inequalities, the celebration symbolizes hope and unity.
According to UNESCO, Holy Week (Semana Santa) in Guatemala "entails processions, vigils, funeral marches, seasonal gastronomy," as well as the creation of carpets, orchards and altars. In addition, buildings and fronts of houses are decorated to complement the festive atmosphere.
Holy Week was brought to Guatemala by Spanish colonizers in the early 1500s after having traveled from newly-conquered Mexico.
Over the centuries, the holiday has incorporated elements from a variety of Indigenous cultures that make up the fabric of Guatemala. When mixed together, the result is a blend of Catholic beliefs with Mayan traditions.
Holy Week plays a key role in shaping Guatemala's national identity and it represents its cultural diversity.
Every year, people from the capital city to remote indigenous towns flock to the streets of Guatemala (especially Antigua Guatemala) to witness the Holy Week festivities. This also provides a respite from the harsh realities plaguing the country.
One of the most beautiful traditions of Holy Week is the creation of alfombras (or carpets). No, they are not the rugs in your living rooms. You can find the most elaborate carpets in Antigua Guatemala.
For centuries, the vibrant tradition has been a valuable part of Antigua Guatemala's culture. According to Smithsonian Magazine, the tradition of creating alfrombras was also brought along by the Spanish colonizers.
The materials used to create the carpets are typically plucked straight from nature. These materials include colored sawdust, flowers, fruit, palm leaves and sand. The sawdust is usually purchased from local sawmills and carpenters.
For intricate designs, people use stencils (usually made of cardboard) to quickly assemble the carpets. Some artists use long planks of wood above the artwork to prevent the work from being disturbed. Because the streets in Antigua Guatemala are cobblestone, some artists fill the cracks with sand to level the surface. Once the carpet is complete, it is sealed with a spray of water to prevent the sawdust from flying away.
The carpets showcase different scenes that are significant to artists. These are often religious in nature, but they also include non-religious motifs, such as mother nature, Guatemalan history and Mayan traditions. It is not uncommon to include an image of Jesus Christ on the cross to retell the story of the Passion of Christ.
Originally religious in nature, the carpet tradition has become more inclusive, with non-Christians joining in the Holy Week celebration. Aside from church parishes, residents and businesses in Antigua Guatemala also get involved in the carpet-making tradition.
At one point, the carpets were simple, but have grown more elaborate over time. These carpets can take hours and a considerable amount of effort to put together. Some of them, especially the most extensive ones, can take days at a time to complete and can overtake an entire city block.
During the religious processions, the carpets are walked over, kicking the colors of the carpet together and erasing all signs of the works of art that took hours to complete. In other words, the carpets only have a fleeting lifespan and take seconds to destroy, so they are often seen as sacrificial works of art.
Once the crowd passes through each procession, dump trucks and sweepers follow directly behind the procession and clean up what's left of the carpets. This creates a clean slate for new carpets to be built the next day and, in turn, the carpets' remains are recycled into compost.
Aside from the alfrombras, another important tradition of Holy Week is the religious processions, drawing thousands of locals and tourists to Antigua Guatemala. Typically, the schedule for the procession, including times and locations, is published a few weeks in advance so that people can catch an opportunity to witness this mesmerizing tradition in action.
Far from being extravagant and festive parades, processions are somber affairs as they dramatize the last days of Jesus's life. The Good Friday procession is probably the most solemn among all the Holy Week processions because it depicts Jesus's last day on Earth and his death on the cross.
The floats consist of wooden structures that carry the images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Passion through the streets of Antigua Guatemala. Some of these images are over 500 years old and are clothed in expensive robes. The cofradias, or brotherhoods, are in charge of their maintenance and restoration.
Because the floats are very heavy and long, up to 80 float-bearers are needed to carry the longer ones. In fact, none of the movements are machine-powered, but man-powered. Carrying a float can be a physically and mentally demanding task because of the difficulty of walking over cobblestones. All in all, it is a balancing act that requires high concentration and coordination. This explains why religious processions move rather slowly.
Floats containing images of the Virgin Mary are carried by female float-bearers, while floats with images of Jesus and the Passion are carried by the male ones.
The religious floats are decorated in accordance to the themes that the Catholic church sets every year. It is also in accordance to the dramatization of Jesus's last days of his life (ex. Holy Thursday and Good Friday). For example, some floats are illuminated for nighttime processions.
The float-bearers (known as cucuruchos and devotas) volunteer by signing up for a shift to carry the floats for each procession. They partake in the religious processions for several reasons, such as redemption from their sins or simply to follow tradition.
Usually, the male float-bearers are dressed in purple robes with white waistbands, since purple is the color signifying Lent. The female float-bearers typically wear a white blouse with a black skirt, chapel veil and tights. For the Good Friday processions, both male and female float-bearers dress in all-black outfits.
Each procession is accompanied by live music performed by a marching band. The instruments are mainly woodwinds, brass and percussion. Just like the floats, the music is melancholic in nature.
During Holy Week, this is also one of the best opportunities to sample some of the traditional food from Guatemala, especially food made and sold by locals. The best place to find these foods is during the evening holy vigils (velaciones in Spanish) that take place in churches in and around Antigua.
Food vendors usually rent some space outside of churches, and people gather around the food stalls to enjoy the traditional Guatemalan food. Grills are set up in the streets and the ladies dole out sweet and savory foods from blanket-lined wicker baskets.
To name a few, these are some common typical foods for Holy Week:
Tostadas: toasted corn tortillas spread with black beans, guacamole or a mild tomato sauce, then sprinkled with parmesan cheese and parsley
Dobladas: a turnover filled with anything from beef to cabbage to cheese, then fried
Atol: a thick, hot drink made from corn meal, rice, corn kernels and more
Chiles rellenos: Bell or jalapeño peppers stuffed with a mixture of minced meat, carrots, green beans and spices, then covered in an egg batter and fried
Elotes locos: Boiled corn covered with mayonnaise, sprinkled with cheese and drizzled with mustard and ketchup
Rellenitos: plantain dough stuffed with black beans, fried and topped with some sugar
Plantain mole: fried plantains served in a chocolate-infused mole sauce
Curtidos: pickled vegetables
One particular dish eaten on Good Friday is the bacalao a la vizcaína. Codfish is normally used and white rice is the usual accompaniment for this dish. When Lent season begins, supermarkets stock large quantities of dried or dehydrated codfish coated in salt. Typical ingredients include olives, capers, tomatoes for the sauce, sliced red peppers and potatoes. In fact, bacalao a la vizcaína does not need any extra salt, since most of the seasoning comes from the fish.
Not all recipes for bacalao a la vizcaina are exactly the same, and certain differences come from preparation and how the sauce is seasoned.
All in all, a trip to Antigua Guatemala during Holy Week makes a great addition to your bucket list. Holy Week in Guatemala was inscribed in 2022 by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
It gives you a rare chance to experience the rich and vibrant culture of Guatemala, especially tasting the traditional food. I had the privilege to witness the Holy Week processions this year with my family and I have to say, I definitely want to do it again in the future.
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