CONVITE DE LA HERMANDAD SANTA ELENA DE LA CRUZ (HOUSTON, TEXAS　AUGUST 18, 2024）

CONVITE DE LA HERMANDAD SANTA ELENA DE LA CRUZ

CONVITE DE LA HERMANDAD SANTA ELENA DE LA CRUZ is an important festival for Guatemalans, held every August to celebrate Saint Elena de la Cruz, a saint in the Catholic Christian calendar.

It has a long history, with the first festival held in the city of El Quiché in 1903. St Elena is one of many celebrated Catholics patron saints, she’s just specific to El Quiché as that city’s Patron saint.

Since then, it has spread throughout Guatemalan cities, including Ciudad Vieja, Sumpango, El Tejar, Villa Nueva, and Sacatepéquez, and is currently celebrated by Guatemalan immigrants in Houston, Texas, and Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States.

The name “Convite” comes from the verb “convidar” (to invite), but it means much more to Guatemalans. Convite began as a kind of choreographed dance parade to herald religious festivals in several Guatemalan municipalities.

The colorful and brightly decorated costumes and masks represent a variety of characters, mixing mythological figures from pre-Columbian times and sometimes popular Western figures from movies, television, and cartoons. Therefore, you can see a different convite wherever you go.

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