Carnaval in Aruba is filled with the beat of steel drums, brass bands, calypso-inspired tunes, and a drum-driven tumba and Aruba’s own unique road march.  Both spectators and brilliantly costume participants celebrate during parades, competitions and “jump up” street parties. The Carnaval season is filled with frenetic weeks of queen elections; road march, tumba and calypso contests; parties and “jump-ups”, leading up to the Lighting Parade and the Grand Parades in San Nicolas and Oranjestad.  Thousands of tireless carnavalistas parade for hours under the tropical sun and starlit skies, adorned in the sequins, feathers, glitter and beads of ostentatious and creative costumes and headpieces.

Carnaval music is irresistible.  Originating in Trinidad in the late 18^th century, calypso utilizes a variety of poetic devices in its humorous commentaries on life and love delivered by articulate men of words with monikers such as Mighty, Lord, and King.  Road marches have catchy lyrics and melodies and movements performed in unison; years later, many still “do the wiper”, hit the floor” and “jump with your towel”!

Dera Gai (bury the rooster) was originally a harvest festival that originated in Mexico later combined with the feast of St. John the Baptist. As an offering to the gods, the pagan Indians lit bonfires to clear their fields of the last vestiges of the harvest. This purification ritual marked the end of one season and the welcoming of the new one. Men would challenge each other to leap over the fires and reward the winners with food and drink. The custom spread to Aruba among other countries in the region and became a part of local folklore. 

Aruba has been celebrating St. John’s Day for more than two centuries. It is said to be the only country in the world that celebrates it with song and dance. Women dance and wear colorful costumes in the bright yellow of local flowers, a symbol of a bountiful harvest, and red, the color of fire. Musicians also wear a yellow or red band around their waist and dark trousers.

Men are blind-folded, whirled around, lose their bearings and then try to strike a gourd (calabas) with a stick, representing the head of a buried rooster, to the delight of their audience. This is incorporated into the dance that folkloric groups perform reminiscent of the beheading of St. John the Baptist. A special tune is chanted, accompanied by drum, violin, tambour (small drum) and wiri (a metal percussion instrument). In ancient times, a real rooster lost its head; today, it is just a show. 

The quick-paced melody driven by guitar, accordion, raspa (local percussion instrument) and drum beat signals the arrival of the dande group of traveling musicians each New Year in Aruba. The word dande means to carouse, revel or have a good time. This celebration began after King Willem III of the Netherlands declared slaves to be free. The traditional song is performed by a group of well-wishers who form a band and go door-to-door to sing their song of peace, happiness, goodwill, and prosperity for the New Year. The chorus repeats the ai nobe (aña nobo or New Year) refrain in this lively melody. It is an African rhythm, the same as the tumba or the tambu of Curaçao. 

At each house, money is collected by the host to share with the entire ensemble. Some districts now have their own dande groups that continue to perform even after the New Year. Ever since 1971, a festival has been organized on the last Saturday of the year to elect the Dande King or Queen.

As December approaches, the harmonious voices of the Gaita groups signal the start of the holiday season. Gaita is the name of a type of Venezuelan folk music descended from Indian rhythms and hailing from Maracaibo. It found its way to Aruba in the 1960s and has been popular for the past forty years. As time passed, it was influenced by other musical genres such as salsa and merengue. At first, the gaitas sang of traditional Christmas themes; today the lyrics also deal with love, romance and other subjects. The original instruments of cuarta, tambour and wiri have been joined by piano, bass and trumpets. 

Gaita groups of 18 – 20 musicians compose and arrange their songs months earlier. These groups start composing and arranging their songs in June/July and start recording their music in August/October. The Gaita groups perform at public and private celebration activities from beginning of November until December the 25th. They even entertain downtown Christmas shoppers. The music is captivating, the artists perform in unison, and everyone who listens is touched by the holiday spirit.

On the 25th of December another musical tradition we enjoy is Aguinaldo or Serenal. It was adopted from Venezuela, where it is called “Noche Buena.” This musical genre can be compared to Christmas caroling. The musicians announce their arrival through a song and seek to gain entry to the homes of family and friends to tell the story of the birth of Christ, and to joyfully share the message of peace on earth and goodwill to all men. 

Every evening, music can be heard drifting down from our terrace bars, flooding through the doorways of nightclubs and intimate pubs. Latin rhythms of salsa and merengue, mixed with American top forty and European house music offer a cornucopia of musical backgrounds in which to experience Aruba's exuberant and cosmopolitan attitudes.

Our local musicians can be appreciated during live performances regularly scheduled at the local theater of Cas di Cultura, nightclubs or in Aruba's finest hotels, dinner theatres and restaurants.