A quinceanera (pronounced "kin-sin-

A quinceanera (pronounced "kin-sin-yera") is a special celebration help for many girls in Spanish-speaking communities of the United States and in Latin America on their fifteenth birthday. The celebration may be different in different countries. The words quinceanera can refer to the celebration or to the girl. This birthday is special because it celebrates that a girl is not a child anymore and has become a woman. It is a very important day for many young girls, a day they dream about for a long time. Everyone who knows the girl will celebrate it with a church ceremony and a big party.

There is a lot of preparation before a quinceanera celebration. The most important and expensive thing is the girl’s dress is like a bride’s but is usually pink; however, today many girl wear dresses in other light colors, also. The birthday girl chooses fourteen girls and fourteen boys who will be her attendants at the ceremony and the dinner dance that follows. Traditionally, these girls and boys are younger than the birthday girl, but sometimes they are the same age. The dresses for the girls must be in the same color and style, just as the suits for the boys are in the same color and style. Then the family orders a cake that is special like a wedding cake. Next, the parent rent a hall for the party and rent a band to play music. After that, they decide on the special food to serve the guests.

The hall is beautifully decorated with flowers, and it is full of guests. They wait for the girl and her family to arrive. The band plays music, and the party begins with a dinner. After the dinner, the girl dances the first dance with her father. Then the other attendants start to dance, followed by the guests. It is a day she will always remember.