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Wednesday 20 June 2018

Aruba celebrates festive Dera Gay and St. John’s Day

ORANJESTAD –Festive Dera fertilize the earth for the
Gay and St. John’s Day cel- next growing season.) The
ebrations will take place one to carry out the deed
coming June 24th, across was rewarded with bottles
the island of Aruba. Aruba’s of alcohol and other prizes.
harvest festival ‘Dera Gay’ Today, a more humane ap-
is now a cultural celebra- proach is taken. For exam-
tion featuring traditional ple, at the Dera Gay cel-
song and dance. The sym- ebration at S.V. Sportboys
bol of the rooster and bright in Santa Cruz-one of the
yellow and red costumes biggest Dera Gay celebra-
are central to events held tions on the Island-revelers
at various locations includ- are blindfolded and tasked
ing community centers. with locating a flag staked
into the ground while sway-
Dera Gay which translates ing their hips to the rhythms
to "burying of the rooster" of a band. Every now and
in the local language-is then, the coordinator of
a cultural festival which the game fools the blind-
has been celebrated for folded participants by
about 100 years on Aruba moving the flag while the
with traditional song and and a live rooster was bur- game is in progress. Folk
dance. This holiday is rife ied in the hole up to its neck. dance groups also reenact
with both pagan and Chris- Blindfolded revelers would the burying and decapita-
tian symbolism reflecting then be given three tries to tion of the rooster using a
the influences of the Ar- decapitate the rooster with plastic rooster. Decked out
awak natives and Spanish a long pole (piñata-style). in bright yellow-and-red
missionaries on the Island, (The Catholics considered costumes-the yellow said
respectively. this ritual to be symbolic to represent the bloom of
Traditionally, the Dera Gay of the decapitation of St. the local kibrahacha tree
celebration was centered John the Baptist while the in the month of June-these
around an unusual ritual. A pagans believed that the groups also perform har-
hole was dug in the ground, spilling of the blood would vest dance rituals.
Many years ago, bonfires
were built on the eve of St.
John's Day in order to com-
municate the arrival of the
holiday to neighbors. The
old clippings from the pre-
vious year's harvest would
be burnt in preparation for
the coming growing sea-
son. Nowadays, the fires
are burnt island-wide on
St. John's Day itself, serving
as an olfactory reminder of
this unique local festival. For
more information contact
the Department of Culture
Aruba: +297 5822185. Infor-
mation from www.aruba.
com.q