It is also home to the musical organization known as the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit of the Congos of Villa Mella, recognized in 2001 by UNESCO.
[1] The Congos perform African-derived drum-centered music, primarily during traditional religious feast days, such as during Pentecost, and at funerals.
The Espíritu Santo (Holy Spirit) is considered the patron of the area (which originally developed from bateyes in what was formerly known as Sabana Grande del Espíritu Santo), and is syncretized with Kalunga, which represents both the god of the dead and the gateway to the world of the ancestors in some traditional religions of the Congo region.
[3] Carlos Hernández Soto, an anthropologist and the director of the Museo del Hombre Dominicano, has written a study on the Congos, entitled, Kalunga Eh!
Paul Austerlitz, in his study, Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997), remarks on pri-prí (or merengue palo echao), an accordion dance music particular to Villa Mella that serves as a "secular component of religious festivals" in Villa Mella.