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local Wednesday 7 June 2023

The Savaneta Neighborhood Center is going to celebrate Dera Gay

(Oranjestad)—Vanessa de Gay dance, candle dance,
Kort, project leader at the and flag dance. The can-
Savaneta Neighborhood dle dance is performed for
Center, has informed that protection against illness
on June 24th, they will be and bad luck. The most
celebrating Dera Gay* at well-known dance is the
the neighborhood center Dera Gay, where a man,
to continue enriching the with his eyes covered and
culture of Aruba. a stick in his hand, attempts
to kill the "gay" (rooster).
The evening will begin at Previously, this dance took
6:00 PM and culminate at place in open fields with a
10:00 PM with musical per- live rooster.
formances by Frank Croes Today, a dummy is used,
and his Tipico Pega Saya, and the dance takes place
Masiduri dance group, Nos in clubs. Those who still per-
Cultura group, and as a form the dance in the fields
special guest, Ivy and her or on the ground use a cal-
group. Additionally, there abash. There is also a flag
will be Dera Gay competi- dance, where small flags
tions in the categories of are placed on the ground,
children, youth, and adults. and a person with their
At the same time, they will eyes covered by a cloth
also have a competition for searches for the flags. The
the best Dera Gay attire. ceremony is accompanied
The purpose of this evening 1930s and has served as a by folk music.
is to enhance the culture of theater, has lost its name The prominent musical in-
Aruba. De Kort expressed and importance in recent struments are the fio, wiri,
the intention of revitalizing years. De Kort mentioned and tambu. The Dera Gay
the neighborhood center, that they want to bring chant dates back to 1862.
which has seen a significant it back and restore it not Of course, this celebra-
decrease in activities since only for theater but also for tion is not complete with-
the Covid-19 pandemic. dance, singing, and other out traditional local food
She mentioned that they activities. and drinks. The festival of
want to restore the neigh- De Kort emphasized that San Juan and Dera Gay
borhood center's function. the costs for restoring the regained popularity in the
"We have already start- stage require a significant ute to the work and effort day. 1970s among the local
ed with a few volleyball amount of money, and needed for these activities. According to tradition, the population, and schools
competitions. Savaneta is they have not yet made Registration to participate festival begins on June 23rd also started paying atten-
known for its volleyball and a budget for it. Neverthe- in the Dera Gay event is when people light corn- tion to this popular festival.
indoor soccer. The groups less, they are aware that it free, as mentioned by De stalks as a symbolic cleans- "San Juan is coming, San
that were always there is something that requires Kort. Those interested can ing to prepare for the new Juan is going."
were Savaneta Six Stars, La sufficient funding. contact her at (+297) 594 harvest season. On June *Dera Gay: The word “gay”
Fama, Racket Club, and Furthermore, they are plan- 4570. 24th, after sunset, the cele- in Papiamento means
all those groups that had ning to organize more ac- Dera Gay is a celebration bration of San Juan starts in “rooster”, and is pro-
already established them- tivities to restore the soc- with various origins and his- different districts with Dera nounced like “guy”.q
selves. Now, we want to cer and volleyball fields. tories. The cultural festival
bring back the more recre- The roof of the venue also of San Juan (St. John the
ational aspect that made needs attention, as there Baptist), known locally as
Savaneta great in the 60s, are many things that re- Dera Gay, dates back to
70s, and 80s." quire repairs. 1862 and is celebrated ev-
The intention is also to De Kort made a call to the ery year on June 24th. The
raise funds to renovate the residents, requesting active origin story of this religious
neighborhood center. The volunteers who are willing and cultural festival has
stage, which is from the to participate and contrib- several versions.
The religious origin is associ-
ated with the birth date of
St. John the Baptist, while
the cultural origin is tied
to the harvest festival. Al-
though it has a religious
aspect, Dera Gay is pre-
dominantly recognized as
a cultural festival featuring
music, dance, and singing.
The dominant colors are
red and yellow. Yellow sym-
bolizes the flowering kibra-
hacha tree, while red rep-
resents the candle that is
lit on the eve to announce
the festival of the following