Saint Anthony's Feast and Tamunangue

The great festival

June 13 is the great festival of the El Tocuyo calendar. It is the day of San Antonio de Padua, the most popular saint of El Tocuyo, and the date on which the complete ritual of the Tamunangue is performed: the salve (sacred opening hymn), the eight sones and the payment of promises.

The Brotherhood of 1609

Devotion to San Antonio in El Tocuyo is documented since 1609, the year of the founding of the Brotherhood (Cofradía) of San Antonio de Padua in the city. This brotherhood is probably the origin of the Tamunangue as an organized expression: the mixture of indigenous Jirajara elements, African elements —from the slaves of the sugar mills— and Spanish elements —the Franciscan devotees— was forged under the umbrella of the brotherhood during the 17th and 18th centuries.

June 12 — The eve

The festival begins on the eve (June 12) at night:

• The household altar is set up in the home of the person paying the promise: image of San Antonio surrounded by flowers, fruits, candles and ex-votos (votive objects).
• Instrumental street parade of the Tamunangue group through the street, announcing that the vigil begins.
• Entry of the musicians and dancers into the house.
• Salve Mayor: solemn religious chant, in mock Latin and old Spanish, which is the sacred moment of the night. Without the Salve, the Tamunangue does not begin.
• Praying of the rosary.
• Food offered by the hosts at midnight: hervido (broth), mute (tripe stew) or olleta, El Tocuyo bread, coffee.
• Music and dancing of the sones —in a more intimate version— until dawn.

June 13 — The big day

Solemn Mass

At 10 in the morning, solemn mass at the Inmaculada Concepción Cathedral or at some secondary parish that has the saint as patron. The church fills up. Municipal bands play at the entrance.

Street procession

In mid-morning or early afternoon, the procession of San Antonio goes through the streets of the center. The image of the saint —dressed in his brown Franciscan habit, carrying the Christ Child on a book— is carried on stretchers by devotees. Behind, the Tamunangue groups perform the sones dancing as they advance.

It is one of the most striking spectacles of Venezuelan folklore: the religious procession fused with ritual dance, the crowd singing and dancing, the colored ribbons, the musicians playing without stopping.

The payment of promises

In the church atrium, throughout the afternoon, different groups pay their promises: each devotee who received a favor from San Antonio during the year hires a group and has the complete Tamunangue danced in honor of the saint. Dozens of simultaneous Tamunangues can be danced during June 13.

The eight sones

Each Tamunangue performs the complete ritual cycle:

1. La Batalla: simulated combat between two men with sticks. Opening.
2. La Bella: courtship of the couple with flirtation and octosyllabic quatrains. Variants "Bella Trovada" (minor mode) and "Bella Doble" (from Sanare).
3. La Juruminga: couple follows the singer's instructions. Refrain "juruminga no má".
4. El Yiyivamos: the first proper danced son, according to some practitioners.
5. La Perrendenga: stick play with refrain "tomé ay tó".
6. El Poco a Poco: theatrical mime —sick man, drunk man, mounted on horseback—. Pentasyllabic verses.
7. El Galerón: couple in ternary time, similar to slow joropo.
8. El Seis Corrido and Seis Figuriao: closing. The Seis Figuriao is the most complex: three couples make 32–36 geometric figures. Minor key; sticks are excluded.

→ Read the complete guide to the 8 sones of the Tamunangue

Traditional dress

• Men: khaki pants, white short-sleeved t-shirt or liquiliqui, hat, criollo alpargatas (sandals). Garrote or adorned stick for the combat sones.
• Women: wide skirts in bright colors, white blouse, handkerchief in hand, alpargatas. In Sanare, women may also carry sticks.

Instruments

• Venezuelan cuatro (Venezuelan four-string guitar).
• Cuatro requinto (higher pitch).
• Medio-cinco (five strings).
• El Tocuyo cinco or cuatro monterol (five strings, low register).
• Large cylindrical drum played by two people.
• Tambora.
• Tambourine.
• Maracas.

Cultural heritage

The Tamunangue was declared:

• Intangible Cultural Heritage of the State of Lara in 2002.
• National Cultural Heritage on June 5, 2014.

How to experience it

• Attend the eve of June 12 in some house where a vigil is held.
• Accompany the procession of the 13th at midday.
• Stay in the atrium all afternoon to see the promise payments.
• Do not interrupt the groups: Tamunangues are rituals, not shows.
• Offer a contribution if the group is paying a public promise: it helps sustain the tradition.
• Bring a hat, water and sunscreen: it is June, the procession is long and the sun in the El Tocuyo valley is strong.