The festival of Giant Kites in Sumpango, part of the Sacatepequez department, is a tradition celebrated every first of November on the day of Todos Los Santos, which follows the Day of the Dead. The people of Sumpango exhibit the kites they’ve been working on for months, some of which are 20 meters in diameter. The festival is part of a 300 –year-old custom that draws people to Sumpango every year.
The skeletons of the kites are made of bamboo, tied with hemp and wire to form the polygonal shape, in a process called “Lunada de Barrilete.” The idea that these kites represent is the ethnic and cultural conscience that exists here in Guatemala, a multicultural and multilingual country. In 2000, the festival was based on the topic of “The International Year of Cultural Peace,” driven by UNESCO. The idea was to promote the respect of all walks of life without discrimination or prejudices, the disavowal of violence, the release of generosity, the preservation of the planet and the rewarding of compassion and solidarity.
November is the month of souls in Guatemala, filled with prayers to ancestors and lost loved ones. The prayers serve as the connection between peoples’ daily life and the spiritual life. Through these prayers, the worldview of Guatemalan people is complete with all social and sacred aspects tied together. This celebration is accompanied by typical Guatemalan food, such as fiambre, la cabacera and el dulce de ayote, and the tradition wouldn’t be complete without popular songs and hymns that encourage those who sing them to remember the dead.
There are different versions of myths that explain why the giant kites are part of Dia de Todos Santos. Some say that the kites serve as the physical link to the spirits who wish to visit earth on this day, and appropriately, the kites help them to escape again into the sky above when the day is finished. The festival itself claims that the spirits themselves are make themselves present through the wrapping of the wind against the kites in the sky.