We were lucky enough to have some local friends in Guatemala take us along to celebrate All Saints Day with them at the kite festivals. I say festivals because there are two kite festivals in different towns on this day. One is in Sumpango and one in Santiago. The beautiful and sometimes over 30 ft wide kites are all handmade by various groups over the course of several weeks. On November 1st each year thousands of people show up to watch them fly the kites. It is an amazing festival and cultural event to witness.
The designs on the kites represent important cultural symbols and are tied to specific Mayan identities. They depict everything from government oppression and economic conditions to specific family stories.
It takes a large group to get some of these kites in the air. Made with bambo, paper and cloth they can be quite heavy at this size. Each group competes very amicably to see who can keep their kite in the air the longest. The air is filled with sounds of joyous cheer as the teams sometimes take several tries to get their kites air born.
There is also an air of danger to anyone who chooses to stand too close for a good photo or video op since these heavy kites sometimes just fall from the sky straight down at high speeds. The sharp bamboo sticks have been known to do serious damage. I'm told each year a few people get injured and in some cases quite severely. I nearly became such a statistic as one kite I was filming during launch did very well and took off nicely. Then suddenly all the air left and the kit dropped like some kind of 30 foot lawn dart right to my feet. It knocked two woman down who were standing next to me. Since I was watching thru my camera lens I didn't even notice how close it was coming towards me until it hit the ground a few inches from my feet. The sharp bambo barely missing my head. (See video at the bottom or here)
This practice had taken place for nearly 3,000 years by various religious sects. It started as a tool for communicating with the dead and beyond. But today is mostly separated from the "Day of the Dead" and All saints festivities.
Still yet the kite festival and "Day of the Dead" are closely related since both of the kite festivals in these towns take place in or beside the main cemetery. Locals spend lots of time money and effort cleaning and decorating all the graves prior to the kite festival. It felt pretty weird in Sumpango basically standing on grave sites with thousands of other people to watch the kites. The locals are not affected however as they definitely do not have the same attitude as I'm used to toward graves. Cemeteries for them are anything but a symbol of sadness and reverence. Instead they are for celebrations.
Just like any festivals, food is a big draw. There were entire pigs being grilled, fresh frying of pork skins, smoked vegetables and everything else you could imagine. Although both kite festivals have their similarity they are completely different in attitude. Santiago is a much smaller town with less people during the festival but doesn't feel any less crowded. It does have a much less formal appearance with less sponsors and and no loud speaker announcers. There are plenty of tables setup to sell mezcal by the shot for a few cents each. The entire festivity takes place in the cemetery with everyone clamoring for a seat on a grave stone, etc.
In Sumpango there are many thousands of people in a huge open field. The cemetery is in an adjacent field so it's much less crowded and with no spectators watching from there, but instead the families of the deceased are visiting and decorating graves. There are many more booths with food and trinkets here. Plan on a full day between these two sites, they are only a few miles a part but traffic is heavy this day!
Without further ado, here's the dtube video. Don't miss the kite that almost killed me! No joke, a few more inches and I'd be a gonner, stabbed to death by a failing kite with sharp bambo stakes. It's at the end of this 70 second video.
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS