A hundred people joined yesterday the return after the pandemic of the Smoke Festival. Recovered in 2011, the act recalls the route that the residents of remote towns had to take to enjoy the festivities of the La Rambla neighborhood. “When there was no light, they lit the axes and locks, people protested the smoke and the Smoke Festival stayed,” explains Dolores Santana.
San Juan de la Rambla was illuminated again this Saturday with the light of the axes and locks. It was at the Smoke Festival, a kind of historical recreation that takes place in this northern municipality and that is a tribute to the residents of the upper neighborhoods. At the beginning of the last century, they used the path of the Barranco de Ruiz to go to the festivities of La Rambla and used rudimentary lighting systems.
Yesterday’s appointment was aimed at reproducing that route, linking the Plaza Los Rodríguez de La Vera with the Barranco de Ruiz Recreational Zone, to later enter the La Rambla neighborhood. The weather conditions prevented the first part, but the second section of the act remained standing. Once it began to get dark, the axes were lit in the parking lot of La Rambla, and then the journey to the place’s square began, which was joined by around a hundred people.
The parade left very striking scenes, with several people carrying the axes – which are made of tea wood – down the road as it began to get dark. Neighbors and enthusiasts of ethnography were part of a delegation that was also joined by the mayor of San Juan de la Rambla, Jesús Ezequiel Domínguez. One of the culminating moments came in the square of this enclave, with the smoke smelling of tea that, according to those who know the custom, is always generated. Afterwards, the attendees were expected to enjoy a paella and the music of Grupo La Limera.
Marcelino Reyes and Dolores Santana promoted this historical recreation in 2011
Dolores Santana, better known as Loli, and her husband, Marcelino Reyes, were the promoters in 2011 of the recovery of this tradition from the North of the Island and they know all its details. “They went down to the Fiestas del Rosario de La Rambla de los Caballos and, since there was no light, they lit the axes and locks, people protested the smoke and the Smoke Festival stayed,” explained Loli.
Soaking of the pussies
Another of the characteristics of this event, which takes place within the framework of the festivities in honor of the Virgen del Rosario, is that it distributes chochos. And it is that the old festivities of the area, the axes and the soaking of the lupins were all linked. “We prepare the chochos on Monday, we go to the coast, we soak them and we spend the whole week changing the water,” Dolores Santana explained about the preparations.
Marcelino, who is a traditional basket maker and carpenter, speaks passionately about local customs. He indicated that it was his father who transmitted the information to him on how those primitive festivals attended by the residents of the highlands were celebrated. “You go down the Risco de las Pencas path to Molino Pico de la Grieta,” he specified, a good connoisseur of place names, about the route that had to be suspended yesterday afternoon due to the weather.
The Councilor for Culture of San Juan de la Rambla, Tomás oramas, put the accent on the recognition that this celebration supposes for the old generations. “With this we do not forget the difficulties and hardships that our parents and grandparents went through, who had a very hard life,” he said, referring to the times of hunger and misery in the first half of the last century. The mayor also pointed out that the Ramblero City Council is committed to the event and gives it logistical support because it allows it to continue recovering traditions and preserve local memory.
