Barriletes Gigantes!

We had heard months earlier about the fantastic display of kites in Sumpango for El Día de Los Muertos. Because it coincided with Mira’s parents’ Guatemala visit we were concerned about the chaos that tends to surround events like this. Ultimately we decided to go, but with a tour group to lessen the stress.

Our first encounter in Sumpango was a massive “cola” (traffic jam which literally means “tail). Since parking is basically non-existent everyone parks along the highway creating a big backup. After our group spent about 15 minutes (and two Quetzales each) using the bathroom, we headed first to the cemetery.

While the event coincides with a Catholic holiday, this festival actually has its roots with a Mayan spirituality. During El Dia de Los Muertos, ancestors visit from the heavens. But apparently bad spirits can make their way down too. So town residents were instructed to build kites whose sound would ward off evil spirits.

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Families visit their ancestors’ graves – adorning them with flowers, standing atop flying kites, even serenading them with music. One grave site we saw had twenty visitors with a group of musicians playing music. It is a great contrast with the U.S. where cemeteries are thought of as spooky places, not places to have a celebration.

The real star of the festival though is the barriletes gigantes (giant kites). Family groups spend up to 4 months assembling them and spend thousands on the materials. Some stand as tall as 40 feet. As you descend the hill to a cleared area, you finally get a grandiose view of the barriletes.

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The most interesting part of the festival is when they take these beautiful handcrafted kites and actually try to fly them (not the 40 foot tall ones though). Teams are formed and there is a competition to see who can fly the longest. Fortunately we were there when there was a pretty good wind. Seeing one of these giant kites take off is a thrill. While I was filming one whooshed past within a foot of me.

In Guatemala, safety is in the hands of each individual. Safety laws are lax and not enforced. In this spirit, these kites took off in the middle of the crowd eventually crashing, sending people fleeing. This is not something that would happen in the U.S. But it was great fun and didn’t seem too dangerous.

Here’s a little video I made from the kite flying.