The Catholic customs of the ruling class were incorporated by the colonizers in order to exert their control; as a result, institutions, customs, and traditions were established on the island, inherited from the Spanish metropolis.

In the 12th century, various religious and secular theatrical festivals took place in Cuba; some originating from the previous century and others flourished during this period, as a result of the lack of public performances that lasted until the middle of the century.

Popular festivals, in their origins, were generally linked to the calendar of celebrations reserved for the saints of the Catholic Church and their ramifications in popular religiosity.

Among the main festivities of this century are bullfights, masquerades, comedy performances, Altares de Cruz (Cross Altars), Encamisadas (Clothes of the Cross), and Patron Saint Festivals. Religious festivals, street performances, and popular entertainment were also held.

Despite all the forms that religious and secular festivities took in Cuba in the 17th century, the main entertainment consisted of the Corpus Christi Festival, Altares de Cruz, bullfights, masquerades and comedy performances.

Corpus Christi, a traditional Catholic holiday that began to be practiced on the island in the 16th century, has strengthened over the past five years as the main religious and popular celebration of the largest of the Antilles, as it met the need for entertainment in the communities. Depending on the territory where it was held, it took on various forms. During these times, women’s dances were prohibited; only men’s dances were permitted, provided they wore decent attire.

This prohibition was not only applicable to Corpus Christi, but was also generally applicable to all processions taking place in Cuba, but specifically to Corpus Christi.

During the Corpus Christi festivities in Santiago de Cuba, the people participated jocularly. The music and dancing created an almost carnival-like atmosphere. Women took to the streets in sumptuous costumes that cinched their feminine forms.

Religious festivals and nighttime processions were held quite frequently in Cuba, in which some women acted as Nazarenes. The origin of these latter events, so common during this period, lies in ceremonies intended to alleviate various ailments. These religious processions gave way to carnivalesque elements, as they encouraged men to appear masked, for various reasons, including the desire to take part in the processions, playing the roles of some of the characters in the Passion.

In 1675, because the masks, both in meetings held in homes and in parades on the streets, criticized certain provisions and mocked the officials who had issued them, the bishop and the governor ordered that the masks that mocked the authorities be excommunicated and fined five hundred pesos.

Processions such as Easter, Pentecost, the Assumption of the Virgin, and those of the city’s patron saint were held.

Also in the 17th century in Cuba, the Encamisadas (Coat of Arms) were held, which were another type of procession. They were nighttime processions that had a specific religious character. The Encamisadas were combined with the festival celebrating the supposed apparition of Saint Michael.

Grand masquerades on horseback took center stage on the nights of San Juan and San Pedro. These nights were also celebrated with music, dancing, and the Altares de Cruz (Cross Altars).

As a result of the absence of public spectacles, which lasted until the middle of the century, other Spanish religious festivals flourished, such as the Altares de Cruz and the Patron Saint Festivals. The Court Festivals and Regional Festivals were celebrations organized by the colonial authorities.

In Cuba, there were street performances and popular entertainment. In the late 17th century, we find a festival in Santiago de Cuba that eventually became symbolic: a procession that circled around the Cathedral to commemorate the feast day of Saint James the Apostle. Gradually, the patron saint festivities expanded from June 24 (Saint John) to August 16 (Saint Joachim) and July 25 (Saint James the Apostle), giving rise to what we know today as the Santiago Carnival.