Brave Little Bull Festival

Antón was festively decorated for its forty-third Brave Little Bull Festival, called the "Year of the Drums of Antón". It was Saturday at noon, on the third day of the festival, and the park was already packed. That was when the water brigades began to wet down the main streets, and all the bystanders, in the traditional way of tossing water from hollow gourds, to the beat of drums and mortar bells. Back at the park, the folkloric performances were continuous: one after another were presented, to the constant applause of the audience.

In the park there was also a contest for domestic skills: threshing rice, splitting and carrying firewood and peeling coconuts. The Antón Farming Association, in conjunction with the Ministry of Social Development (MIDES), put on a milking contest, had a small exposition of livestock and medicinal plants and sold huge vats of rice pudding, a more solidified variation called bienmesabe and white cheese. Giving a toast is traditional at this festival. In the park, people in the gift wagon handed out chocao, a dessert made with 250 mashed bananas and 50 grated coconuts. In another corner, gourds filled with guacho, or stew, were also passed around.

When evening fell, it was time for the cattle rustlers to show how to take down a cow by binding each leg with a strip of leather. It would then be skinned in order to manufacture the peasant's traditional leather sandals. At night, the tents lit up and the folkloric performances went on.

At 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, a throng of people beating drums came out to accompany the queen and her bulls up to the priest's house, where they were blessed, and then on to the church. There a "bullfight" broke out, with a violent crashing of horns, but the fighters ended up as friends while the sun slowly rose. Later in the morning, the stages were enlivened again and at noon the folkloric parade made its way through the streets. The festival ended on Monday night with street drumming and dancing.