Puerto Rico boasts one of the longest Christmas seasons in the world—it is a six-week fiesta! The trulla is one of Puerto Rico's most cherished Christmas traditions. Often performed at nighttime, trullas are surprise musical visits to unsuspecting households. Outside of Puerto Rico, this tradition is often known as parranda. The final lesson in this Pathway explores the music, contexts, and social significance of this longstanding tradition in Puerto Rico and its diaspora (e.g., Puerto Rican communities in Hawai'i). Going further, this lesson also introduces trulla / parranda as a circum-Caribbean practice found in places such as the coastal regions of Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago, where it is more commonly known as parang.

Lesson Paths & Learning Objectives

1. Trulla Navideña!

   • Describe and demonstrate understanding of the trulla tradition through participation.
   • Identify and demonstrate musical characteristics of aguinaldos (the songs trulla groups perform).
   • 30+ minutes

2. Puerto Rican Music and Christmas in Diaspora: Hawai'i

   • Describe the historical and cultural context of kachi-kachi music (Puerto Rican dance music in Hawai’i).
   • Identify musical characteristics of kachi-kachi music.
   • Explain how migration affects musical cultures.
   • 30+ minutes

3. Parranda and Parangin the Circum-Caribbean

   • Describe the musical and cultural characteristics of the Venezuelan parranda and Trinidadian parang traditions.
   • Describe historical and cultural connections between Puerto Rican trulla, Venezuelan parranda, and Trinidadian parang.
   • 20+ minutes