Madrid’s Chinita fair unites Venezuelan community
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Venezuelan people living in Spain will gather from October 16 to November 14 to celebrate the 23rd edition of the Feria de la Chinita in Madrid, an event designed to strengthen cultural identity and community.
José Luis Morán, president of the Asociación Cultural Feria de La Chinita en Madrid, explained that the event will include prayers and traditional music from the Zulia state of Venezuela.
The celebration began with a theatrical performance about the canonization of Venezuelan saints José Gregorio Hernández and María Carmen Rendiles, with a performance by Deacon Jean Carlos González who served alongside Pope León XIV during the ceremony. On October 24, the Madridcaibo musical group will lead a workshop teaching people of all ages to play and understand the gaita, a traditional musical style from Zulia.
On October 26, Cardinal Baltazar Porras Cardozo, the archbishop emeritus of Caracas, will lead a ceremony to install an image of San José Gregorio Hernández in the church of San Antonio de Padua in Cuatro Caminos. Devotees will also honor the Virgen de Chiquinquirá, a revered figure in Venezuelan culture, with a procession on October 31.
The fair will continue into November with masses in Valdemoro and at the San José parish, culminating on November 14 with a final mass and a concert featuring gaitas zulianas. Morán, who initiated the fair 23 years ago, noted that the event has grown from 150 attendees to over 5,000 in recent years, including both Venezuelans and Spanish people. Attendees are encouraged to bring medicine to be sent to Venezuela, in collaboration with Una Mirada hacia Venezuela.
