CUSTOMS
Most Venezuelans are Catholic and on December 25, celebrate the birth of Jesus. Festivities begin on December 16 with large mass services every morning. It is a tradition that some people roller-skate to mass. Misa de Aguinaldo or Misa de Gallo, the final service, happens at midnight on Christmas Eve, or Noche Buena. Venezuelans create nativity scenes traditionally, but Christmas trees are common as well. Children wake up on the morning of Christmas and receive gifts under the tree or by their beds. In contrast to a Catholic Christmas celebration in the U.S., Venezuelan children believe that Jesus brought the gifts, not Santa Claus.
Traditional music in Venezuela is a mixture of indigenous, African and European culture. The country's national dance, the Joropo, is a couples dance that is performed to music by traditional Latin American instruments. These consist of the cuatro, which is a small guitar from the lute family, and maracas, which is a type of percussion instrument that is played in pairs and usually made of coconut shells or dried gourd and filled with beans or seeds.
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