The "Burial of the Sardine" centers around Ash Wednesday. The burial is a pagan ceremony started in the early 20th century as an imploration to the Gods for an abundant harvest of fish and agriculture. The Sardines of Naiguatá are a musical ensemble who formed during this event and in 2010 they celebrated their 50th anniversary. In this video, group leader Ricardo Benito Diaz discusses the parranda music tradition. Their album ¡Parranda! Venezuelan Carnival Music is out June 19, 2012, on Smithsonian Folkways.

Venezuela's Caribbean coastal town of Naiguatá is home to one of that country's most celebrated Carnival musical traditions. In the 1970s, trumpeter Ricardo Díaz augmented the local legacy of Afro-Caribbean drumming traditions with brass, electric bass, keyboard, and women's chorus to create La Sardina de Naiguatá, the musical group that drives the town's annual cycle of public celebrations, including Carnival, Corpus Christi, and St. John the Baptist. ¡Parranda! brings us the contemporary, joyous sounds of the pre-Christian rite of "burying the sardine" to promote an abundant harvest of fish and crops.

Naiguatá, la ciudad costera caribe de Venezuela, es casa de uno de los mas celebrado tradiciones musicales del país, el Carnaval. En los 1970's, el trompetista Ricardo Díaz aumentó la legecia de las tradiciones de tamboreo afro caribes y incluyo tales instrumentos como el latón, bajo eléctrico, teclado, y el coro femenino para componer La Sardina de Naiguatá, el grupo musical que conduce las celebraciones públicas de la ciudad como el Carnaval, Corpus Christi, y St. John el Bautista cada año. ¡Parranda! nos trae los sonidos contemporaneous del rito precristiano "de sepultar a la sardina" para promover un cultivo abundante de pescado y cosechas.