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Community Corner

VIDEO: Uruguayan Murga Graced Wake Up the Earth Festival

A hundreds-years-old tradition is kept alive in Uruguay, and local practitioners of Murga performed at JP's most important festival.

Beginning last of week of January and ending first week of March, Uruguay's carnival is considered the longest in the world.

Murga, a genre tracing its roots to Spain, is a group of singers—just a few or as many as 30—accompanied by bombo (bass drum), snare drum and cymbals.

Saturday, la Klandestina, a murga composed by Uruguayans living in Fitchburg, Mass, stood out among the many music ensembles at . Their harmonized voices, elaborate customs and face paintings amazed the audience.

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The larger, more sophisticated ensembles can feature a whole supporting band with keyboards, electric guitars, etc.

Every neighborhood in the largest Uruguayan cities features its own murga that prepares all year long for carnival, composing lyrics parodying events that took place the previous year, making elaborate customs, and creating musical arrangements.

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A jury composed of well-known artists and intellectuals issues awards for best lyrics, customs, originality and other categories.

In the attached video La Kandestina sings: “They say Murga is a bombo and a snare drum. Murga is inside you an impulses you forward...” followed by their own lyrics to the tune of a traditional Spanish song.

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