Fiestas trashumantes: liderazgos comunitarios y fiestas patronales afrocolombianas del pacífico en Bogotá

Abstract

What I call “fiestas trashumantes” (“migrant festivals”) are patron-saint celebrations from the Afro-Colombian Pacific Coast that have been celebrated in Bogota for the last thirty years. I analyze, from an ethnographic approach, the Virgen de Atocha and the San Pacho migrant festivals in Bogota. I purport that these celebrations strengthen lived and imagined bonds to ancestral traditions from the Pacific region in Colombia. At the same time, these festivals invite local and city-wide organization processes and ethnic and cultural participation for Afro-Colombians who live in Bogota. Sponsored by local policies and developed in multicultural scenarios, the musical and religious performances that take place during these festivals weave a sense of community and identity-building. Finally, they also serve as a form of State-sponsored, multicultural spectacle.