Iemanjá

The third festival is named Iemanjá, which is taken from the name of a god from one of the faiths named Umbanda. Umbanda itself is a belief practiced in Uruguay. This festival is where followers of the Umbanda faith make offerings to the goddess of the Sea on Ramírez Beach, Montevideo. There are also rituals like drumming and singing of special songs.

During the ritual, the participants usually sit and wait until sunset, then after that they push the boat into the sea, they walk to the shallow sea to make offerings in the form of gifts that are prepared beforehand. All participants dress in white. Then after making offerings, they return to the beach and start dancing together around the ritual site before bowing down on the sand right in front of the ritual site, as a form of respect to the Sea goddess.

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