The drum calls, and the circle begins.

Four nights of gaita larga in the square of San Jacinto. The circle is free to join.

Every stripe above is a drum stroke. This is the cumbia pattern, woven: the maraca keeps the pulse, the llamador plays the offbeat, the tambora goes between skin and wood, and the alegre plays something new on every pass. 92 beats per minute.

One music, four nights

Gaita larga is the music of the Montes de María: two long cane flutes over drums. The female gaita carries the tune and the male gaita answers with two notes while its player shakes a maraca. Three drums hold the ground under them.

San Jacinto sits in those hills, 120 km southeast of Cartagena. It is the town that weaves the striped hammocks you see all over the coast, and the town that keeps the gaita alive. Llamador puts the music back where it belongs: the square at night, with a circle of dancers around the players.

Gaita hembra: Five holes, and the melody. A tube of cardón cactus with a head of beeswax and ground charcoal; a duck feather is the mouthpiece.
Gaita macho: Two holes. It answers the hembra, and its player shakes the maraca with the free hand.
Maraca: A totumo gourd filled with achira seeds. It keeps the pulse and leans on the offbeat.
Llamador: The small drum. One stroke on every offbeat, all night, without a single flourish. It gives the festival its name.
Alegre: The talking drum. It follows the gaita and answers whoever is singing.
Tambora: The bass drum, played with sticks on the skin and on the wooden body.

The nights

Thursday 11 March
The square, from 8 p.m.

Gaita

The instrumental night. The oldest air in the repertoire: the gaitas answer each other like birds and the alegre plays in threes. The circle opens and the ground gets tested.

96 beats per minute. No singing.

Friday 12 March
The square, from 8 p.m.

Cumbia

A sung night, and the night of the circle. A paused cadence, the llamador on the offbeat and candles in hand. The circle turns counterclockwise around the players.

92 beats per minute. With voice.

Saturday 13 March
The square, from 8 p.m.

Porro

A sung night with call and response between the singer and the square. The drum plays straighter and only breaks out when it has to.

108 beats per minute. With voice.

Sunday 14 March
The square, from 7 p.m.

Puya

The fastest air. Instrumental, made for the players to show what they can do and for the circle to keep turning. It closes the festival.

140 beats per minute. No singing.

All four days
The yards of the town, 3 to 6 p.m.

By day

Open workshops. Shape a gaita head from beeswax and ground charcoal, or learn how the alegre skin is tightened. In the afternoon the circle rehearses with candles, for anyone who wants to step in.

Getting there

San Jacinto is on the Troncal de Occidente, the main road between Cartagena and Sincelejo, about 120 km southeast of Cartagena. Buses from the Cartagena terminal toward Sincelejo and Montería stop in town; the ride takes around two hours.

From Sincelejo it is 76 km up the same road and about an hour and a quarter by bus. Coming from Barranquilla, change buses in Cartagena. The square is a short walk from where the buses stop, and the circle costs nothing to join.