La Romana, also known as “The Flower of the East” (La Flor del Este), has always been characterized as being a vibrant town, with friendly, welcoming people, but above all La Romana is also very religious and cultural, which is why every year from the 22nd to the 30th of August, this city celebrates the fiestas patronales in honor of its patroness saint “Santa Rosa de Lima.”
“Fiestas Patronales” are annual celebrations in honor of the memory of a saint or divinity of the Catholic Church. Santa Rosa de Lima is considered as the first Saint in the Americas, who devoted her life to protecting those most in need in her hometown of Lima (Peru), and so was declared a saint by Pope Clement X in 1671.
In honor of the life and good works of the Santa Rosa de Lima, each year the people of La Romana celebrates these fiestas patronales with dances, concerts, masses, games and much more… celebrated after mass each day at the Santa Rosa de Lima church found in the heart of La Romana.
In previous years, most of the activities for the fiestas patronales in La Romana take place at the Parque Duarte, which has been there since 1929, located just in front of the Santa Rosa de Lima Church, built in 1940.
This year, taking advantage of the recently inaugurated Aldea Cultural Santa Rosa de Lima, some celebrations for the fiestas patronales have been taking place at this cultural village. Last night Dr. José López and Dr.Celsa Albert Batista led an interesting talk on “Tradition and Integration of the La Romana Culture” and on Saturday evening from 8pm there is the“Noche de Atabales y Salves” where a performance by Celeste Cruz and her group will close the fiestas patronales with a dash of Dominican culture and spirituality!
Noche de Atabales y Salves
Remember you always have to save the best things until the last! And so to close the Fiestas Patronales at the Aldea Cultural Santa Rosa de Lima, Celeste Cruz accompanied by her group, will lead a Noche de Atabales y Salves! A pure expression of the Dominican culture and spirituality!
The ATABALES are a percussion instrument of African origin. Here, in the Dominican Republic the Atabales form part of many cultural and religious celebrations, for example, the Atabales Festival of Sainaguá in San Cristóbal. These drums were inherited from the African slaves that were brought here by the Spaniards and hence, are an import part of our culture and traditions.
When: Saturday 30th of August
Time: 8:00pm
Where: Aldea Cultural Santa Rosa de Lima (Antigua Fortaleza)
Spanish
