The carnival of blacks and whites

The Carnival of Blacks and Whites, called ``El Carnaval de Blancos y Negros´´ in Spanish, is a multicultural event celebrated in the South-Western part of Colombia in the city of Pasto. This carnivalwas declared a National Cultural Heritage and is celebrated from 28 December to 6 January of each year, attracting lots of tourists.

The reason why this carnival is celebrated is because it showsall the different cultures that existed in the territory of Pasto many years ago, cultures like Spanish and African. The Carnival of Blacks and Whites has its origins in ancient times, when theaborigines settled in Pasto´s lands and then these lands were colonized by the Spanish who had African slaves and aboriginal slaves as well .All this multicultural mix represents the carnival of Blacks andWhites.

The carnival is celebrated on January 5 because on the year 1603 was a revolution in Popayan, a Colombian city; this revolution was led by black people. These people were demanding the kingof Spain a free day of work where they could have freedom. The king finally had to agree and gave them 5 January as a free day. When the news was all around the city, the black people started todance with the rhythm of African music and they also painted all the white walls of the city with black paint.

The carnival starts ``the day of the water´´ on 28 December. This day everybody goes outto the street and gets wet. If you don´t want to get wet it is better for you don´t go out because there will be people in their cars throwing water in cans or water balloons. The only purpose of thisday is getting wet.

On January 4 The Castañeda´s family parade is traditional. In this parade people wear last century clothes making everything look like another time. Castañeda is the name usedto name the family who began with this carnival tradition. The real name of this family was Averbe and they used to be one of the most powerful families in 1854.
After the Castañeda´s day, ``Black...