Venezuelans celebrate feast of St. John the Baptist

For the inhabitants of Curiepe town in Venezuela June 24 is the day of their beloved Saint John the Baptist's birthday celebration. The Drums of Curiepe festival is a blend of the Catholic beliefs of the Spanish conquistadors and the rites of the African slaves brought during the colonial period.

The residents proudly affirm that their town was the first establishment of free Black men and women, in a rare case of a self-made town amid the Spanish domain in the region. This year's festival of Saint John is the first to be celebrated since UNESCO recognized the tradition as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

A statue of a childish St. John is carefully dressed up and placed in a wooden structure garnished with symbolic elements like bread, palms and flowers and is paraded through the streets of Curiepe as devotees dance and sing to the rhythm of drums.