The city of Remedios, located in the central province of Villa Clara, holds a wide range of attractions for the growing tourist industry which are supported the natural environment, cultural traditions and history.

Every year, thousands of foreign tourists visit the city which was the eighth village founded in the 16th century by the Spanish.

This centenary festivity started in 1820 and it eventually spread to other cities and towns in the country where it became an example of the deep attachment to the nation’s traditions.

The city is characterized by a well-preserved architecture and streets of irregular design which are unique sceneries for the “Parrandas” (traditional carnival).

Regarded as the oldest festivities in Cuba, the Parrandas emerged thanks to father Francisco Vigil de Quiñones who officiated at the church of the Villa de San Juan de los Remedios.

The priest, worried about the lack of parishioners at the midnight mass, on Christmas Eve, came up with the idea of having some boys from the village to go out on the streets making noises with whistles, horns and cans, thus waking up the neighbors who had no other choice but to abandon their beds and go to church.

This particular and noisy initiative settled in the population thus giving rise to one of the most attractive festivities in the country; by 1871, the structure which is essentially kept on the Remedios streets was adopted.

In the popular Parrandas, the contending barrios of San Salvador, characterized by red and blue colors and a rooster as a symbol, and El Carmen, brown colors and represented by a halk.

According to the tradition, when the bells at the city church toll announcing that it is nine o’clock on the night of December 24, each barrio unveils their respective creations thus showing their abilities and endeavor to manufacture the different initiatives used in the competition.

Floats, lights, fireworks, choreographies and traditional music are uncovered thus revealing the designs of elements which were built along the year by the followers of each barrio.

The typical music of the Parrandas is the pealing, which reminds the loud ringing of bells announcing the Christmas tip mass, in which instruments like pieces of window railings, cowbells, drums and trumpets are used.

The collective memory of the celebrations is preserved at the Museum of the Parrandas which was opened in April 1980, in Remedios; the museum is located in a building from the 19th century which holds photographs, documents and craftworks related to the festivities.

This unique cultural expression in the province of Villa Clara makes a special contribution to the tourist options in the territory, and to the foreign visitors who are interested in knowing about the myths and traditions accumulated by a Caribbean nation through its many centuries of history.