The Importance of Tradition

For those of us living in urban societies dominated by material consumption and spiritual skepticism, a celebration like Carnival may seem like a mere exotic event. However, the Carnival of Tarabuco is much more than that: it is a manifestation of abundance, of the "surplus" obtained after long days of hard agricultural work, offered as a gesture of gratitude to the deity and as an expression of the unbreakable bond between man and nature. It matters little whether this surplus could be allocated to savings or to the sustenance of families, whose incomes are often scarce. What is truly significant is that it represents a different way of understanding life, a perspective in which reciprocity, celebration, and a sense of community prevail over the logic of mere economic benefit.