Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Giant Kites at Sumpango


This is one of our most colorful traditions held the Day of The Dead in November 30th at the town of Sumpango, 60 km west Guatemala City. They fly their kites as a way to get in touch with their deads and to scary the bad spirits, a similar show is also held in the near town of Santiago Sacatepequez. The bigger kites are only for show, they can't fly due to their large dimensions.
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2 comments:

  1. Tim Parish09 December, 2009 19:07

    I've seen a few posts about these kites, but hadn't realized that the largest examples didn't actually fly. That's an interesting contrast to Malaysian culture, where it's the smallest kites that tend to be for 'decoration only'! For example, tiny versions of the Wau Bulan are sold as decoration.

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  2. P1109 December, 2009 21:33

    This people use to make their kites in the town of Santiago Sacatepequez -some 25km from Antigua-. When the earthquake of 1976 strike Guatemala many countries around the world sent help to many Maya towns like Santiago, as a way to tell thanks they began to incorporate flags from these countries and more elaborated designs to their kites, later Sumpango begins to make kites too. Today this has become a tourist destination by itself. Thank you for posting.

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