Rara: the music of the road
You hear rara before you see it. A low, pulsing chorus of bamboo trumpets comes down the road, drums underneath, and behind it a crowd that grows at every crossroads.
A season on foot
Rara season begins when Carnival ends and runs through Lent, reaching its height in the week before Easter. Bands leave their home base at night and walk for miles, playing as they go and stopping to perform for neighbors and local leaders along the way.
The instruments
The heart of the sound is the vaksin, a hollow bamboo tube that plays a single note. Several players, each with a different length, lock their notes together into one melody. Around them are metal horns called konè, drums, scrapers, bells, and tchatcha (maracas). In front, the majò jon twirls a baton and leads the way.
More than a parade
Rara grew in the Haitian countryside and has deep ties to Vodou communities. Its songs praise, tease, and criticize, so a band can carry the news and the opinions of a whole neighborhood. Léogâne is famous for its rara, and Haitians abroad have carried the tradition to cities such as New York and Miami.
