The Feasts of San Pacho
Late September to early October marks a period of great festivities in the costal city of Quibdó, the capital of Colombia’s Chocó department. During this time, the people of Quibdó take part in celebrations in honor of their patron saint Francis of Assisi, who they affectionately refer to as San Pacho.
Chocó is the department of Colombia with the most black people per capita, with around 90% of the population identifying as Afro-Colombian, descendants of enslaved Africans brought to the pacific coast of the country to work in gold mines during the colonial era. The region unlike many others in Colombia was never viewed as a suitable area for settlement by Europeans, mainly due to the vast jungles surrounding it. For this reason the black population of Chocó have been able to preserve much of their African traditions and remain relatively unmixed. The preservation of these ancestral traditions has lead to a syncretism between Catholicism and African animism, an example of this syncretism is clearly present throughout the festivities of San Pacho.
During the events the streets of the city are decorated with banners and flags and heave with parades full of brightly colored costumes showing African and Caribbean influence, with brass and drum bands following throughout. Each of the city’s 12 “barrios” erects an altar in its center with candles and images of the saint. Over the course of the celebrations which include a “disco tribute” to the saint, each barrio takes responsibility for the festivities and hosts a party with exhibitions and performances, music, dancing and food. After two weeks of eating, drinking and dancing, the city wakes up to silence on October 4th, the Saint’s Day. The music is turned off and the prayers begin while a massive procession of worshipers parade the saint throughout the city, until it reaches the cathedral where a long ceremony is carried out, which includes the performance of ritual dances.
