A Salvadoran girl decorates coconut palm fronds with flower blooms during the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. A Salvadoran girl decorates coconut palm fronds with flower blooms during the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador.
A member of a dance group “Los Historiantes” performs the Dance of the Moors and Christians during the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. A member of a dance group “Los Historiantes” performs the Dance of the Moors and Christians during the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador.
An altar with a statue of Virgin Mary is carried during the procession of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. An altar with a statue of Virgin Mary is carried during the procession of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador.
A Salvadoran man plays a drum during the procession of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. A Salvadoran man plays a drum during the procession of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador.
A Salvadoran woman carries a palm branch with colorful flower blooms during the procession of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. A Salvadoran woman carries a palm branch with colorful flower blooms during the procession of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador.
Members of a dance group “Los Historiantes” perform the Dance of the Moors and Christians during the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. Members of a dance group “Los Historiantes” perform the Dance of the Moors and Christians during the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador.
Salvadoran altar boys hold pastoral candles and cross during the Holy Mass at the end of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. Salvadoran altar boys hold pastoral candles and cross during the Holy Mass at the end of the Flower & Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador.

Flower & Palm Festival

Panchimalco, El Salvador – 8 May 2011

On the first Sunday of May every year, the small town of Panchimalco, lying close to San Salvador, celebrates its two patron saints with a spectacular festivity, known as “Fiesta de las Flores y Palmas”. Although the origin of this event comes from pre-Columbian Maya culture and used to commemorate the start of the rainy season, nowadays the festival honours Catholic saints, the Virgen del Rosario and the Virgen de la Concepcion. Early in the morning, women strip the palm branches of their fronds and skewer flower blooms on them to create large colorful decoration. In the afternoon procession, lead by a male dance group performing a religious dance-drama inspired by the Spanish Reconquest (“Danza de Moros y Cristianos”), large altars adorned with flowers and palms are slowly carried by young women, dressed in typical costumes, through the steep streets of the town.

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This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!

deck de madeira

12.08.2011 – 12:21

Es una muy linda tradiciòn que niega a morir, una riqueza inigualable de nuestra cultura, en ella podemos ver tantas cosas, sencillez, transparencia , agradecimiento, bondad, amor, solidaridad , fraternidad, trabajo y muchos valores que marcan la riqueza de estos pueblos . Panchimalco Ciudad de escudos y banderas.

Emma Aìda Chacòn de Palma

08.08.2011 – 01:09