Rara music

Rara is a form of festival music that originated in Haiti that is used for street processions, typically during Easter Week.

Stripped of that tool, the African slaves used the sound of their feet marching to church to make rhythm and communicate between chains.

Consequently, rara groups and other musicians have been banned from performing and even forced into exile—most notably, folk singer Manno Charlemagne who later returned to Haiti and was elected mayor of Port-au-Prince in the 1990s.

And at the end of the day, Raras would take place in the streets, to show how good they were still doing, even after such hard and meaningless work.

There is evidence that African and Afro-Creole slaves in the French colony of Saint-Domingue paraded with drums and instruments on Easter Sunday.

There is also some evidence that troupes of maroons marched with drummers, horns, and singers, similarly to Rara.