Hello readers of our blog and welcome back to a new blog of Mansion De Chocolate. The month of December has started, it’s a month full of celebrations in Nicaragua. Some of the celebrations are celebrated all over the world and some are related to the culture and traditions of Nicaragua.The month of December is full of parties, happiness, family traditions and religion. A very popular part of this month is the fireworks that you will hear every day of December.
Here are a few examples of what you as a tourist can expect in Nicaragua during the month December.
La Purísima
This is a celebration that mainly is celebrated throughout the family
houses, where they make a richly decorated altar in a corner of the house. It
is an homage to the Virgin Mary. Here they will sit and sing in their houses
with friends and family. Every day during the 9 days La Purisima is celebrated
in a different street, every family that lives in one of these streets helps
decorating the whole street.
La Gritería
This tradition is directly related to La Purisma but is more massive. At
6PM every December 7th, a common yell is heard in different
cathedrals and churches.
At that time, people start exploding fireworks and firecrackers.
During ‘La Gritería’ Virgen
Mary is also venerated. It is a celebration used by people to thank the virgin
for miracles and it takes place before the official day.
Furthermore a lot of people
will walk the streets and start singing to give thanks to the Virgin Mary, they
will go by houses sing for 1 or 5 minutes and the families will give food,
fruits and other stuff to the people that come by and sing for their house.
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| Th decorated tables and houses during the celebrations: Source Vianica |
Christmas
During the Christmas celebrations,
which begin a full week before December 25th and do not stop until
after January 7th. It will be very busy.
Celebrating Christmas is a
mixture of traditional Nicaraguan practices with other elements. It has 2 main
characters one is Santa Claus and the other is Baby Jesus. The real climax of
this celebration is midnight of December 24th.
It is a tradition in
Nicaragua that the families decorate their houses with Christmas symbols, not
only in the houses but as well in the streets. The holiday is a family
celebration, there will be family gatherings where they will eat and drink a
lot together. Also with Christmas you will hear a lot of fireworks and
firecrackers.
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| Christmas tree in Granada, Nicaragua |
New Year
New Year’s eve is a day full of
tradition and joy. It is a day for family moments but also a time to hang out
with friends.
An old tradition is burning the old
year, how do they do it? The Nicas make a man dressed up with very old clothes
and in this constructed man they will put a lot of gunpowder which they hang up
in the streets and ignite.
You will see parties everywhere and
all the Nicas will go crazy and have a wonderful night. In the midnight the
families will burn more fireworks and firecrackers, after that they will hug
each other. Other than having a lot of parties in the homes of Nica families,
clubs and discotheques will have a New Year’s eve party as well.
And in Granada there will be a mini carnival
during new year’s eve to celebrate the new year.
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| an employee of Mansion De Chocolate with carnival in Granada |
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| The man that represents the old year |
