Festival del Tamborito
an interview with Yura Sapi, founder of Liberate, Inc. in advance of a cultural festival happening in Nuquí, Colombia January 5-7, 2024
I first met Yura at our Rockaway Surf Immersion this past September. My dear friend and collaborator in the experience, Suanny, knows them from back home in Colombia. It is our whole mission at Common Healing to connect internationally with cultural workers like Yura.
Yura is the founder and director of Liberate, Inc. They nurture artists co-creating joyful and abundant futures in harmony with each other and Mother Earth. In this moment they are preparing for the Festival del Tamborito, which does very important cultural preservation and reconnection work in the northwest pacific coast of Colombia. I’m excited to share a dialogue with Yura, the history of Tamborito as well as the land and sea of Nuquí below.
Tell me your name.
Yura Sapi (Tree Roots in my Indigenous language, Kichwa)
Where are you right now?
I am currently in our farm, Protectores de la Tierra along the Mortero River in Nuquí, Chocó, Colombia. It’s the northern pacific coast of Colombia close to Panama, a Black and Indigenous territory.
Where are you based?
I am based between Nuquí and New York on Turtle Island. I also travel a lot, so I would say in this lifetime I’m definitely based on planet Earth — most days!
Talk to me about your relationship to the land and sea in Nuquí.
In Nuquí, we are quite connected to all the elements in our daily lives. Much alike our bodies, we are extremely connected to the waterways of rivers, ocean, waterfalls, and thermal baths of the region. Being alongside the dense tropical forrest we are also very connected to the earth element. Working with the land to co-create spaces of flourishing for plants that provide us these life giving foods like rice, plantain, pineapple, papaya, coconut and other fruits and legumes. Houses and structures are also built with materials of the land, specifically the trees. My relationship is of love to these elements and teachers of nature. I am so grateful for the space to recharge my spirit bathing in the river or drinking from a coconut and am happy to give myself to cultivating the land, planting more trees giving them the opportunity to grow. It’s a reciprocal relationship with nature that then allows me to live my own life more fully and with clear purpose. I find my abilities in divination ring powerful when I am offering to nature and not only receiving.
Do you recall any specific anecdotes of you and the land in communion? Of you and your community?
As someone called to take a role in bridge making and bridge walking when it comes to sharing stories through practices like art making, storytelling, grant writing, interviews, translation, and beyond, I find myself often on my devices like phones and computers typing away, on phone calls, and connecting to the world through this tech magic. Nuquí in turn takes care of me, sometimes kindly and sometimes by force. By force is for example, the other night when I was having a burst of writing inspiration but it’s 1am and then electricity went out and it’s an awakening that I need to not spend another hour online and simply go to bed. Another sweeter example, is when I’ll find myself drawn to step away and take some time meditating looking out to the river. I can look out to the river, birds, and mangroves, ask a question and receive an answer from nature, an insight. There was one time when my spirit wasn’t as strong and I was having a hard time knowing what to do next— feeling tired and lazy I think, and I looked out to the river and saw the movement, the flow of the current, the birds moving along in their day, and I received the insight to keep going and move with the flow of the day. That it was the perfect time to take action— this morning flow of movement. I see that in our community in Nuquí as well. The people of Nuquí move with the rhythm of nature, the tides, the sun, and the moon. And so I’ve deepened my own access to these connections remembering they were always there no matter where I find myself. Last year’s Festival del Tamborito was a beautiful example of rejoicing in community and connecting to the land together. It was the first time we added a third day of programming to the festival that includes visiting the farm with artists and festival goers to sing along the river and reconnect to the land that inspires us to create the interpretations through our art-making.
What is the Festival del Tamborito?
The Festival del Tamborito is an Afro-Indigenous legacy-building annual gathering celebrating the Tamborito music genre of and by Nuquí and the northern pacific coast of Chocó into Panama. This festival has been celebrated on the 6th of January, Three Kings Day, for generations in this community. And this upcoming year we are celebrating in the third version of the latest generation who has taken on the production of the event. My partner, Yowar Mosquera, an Afro-Indigenous farmer, builder and musician, is among the organizing group who is a living legacy of Tamborito with multiple generations known for the work.
What will travelers experience on the trip?
Visitors coming to this festival will experience three or more, if you choose to stay longer, days of unforgettable arts and culture immersions from concerts and dancing, to moments in the forest, river and sea, to conversations with community members and other festival goers, to delicious meals, to deepening moments with your soul, giving you room to breathe, letting the sun recharge you and the ocean refresh you.
What inspired you to curate this experience?
I’m honored to have been called to help build this bridge between you and Nuquí. It’s written in the stars for me to find home here when you look at my astro-cartography, Nuquí and this part of the world allows for me to heal and help others heal. If you’re into that stuff, my Chiron Midheaven is here. My intuition led me here and it’s fun to see that reflected through the universe.
How does the festival impact communities?
This festival is all about the community! Your attendance is supporting the people and land of Nuquí, sending good vibrations across timelines of the past and future through the present moment of this 2024 historic festival experience. We are co-creating a thriving planet together where all beings experience joy and harmony. We are supporting local businesses, artists and legacies that span generations in this community. Local audiences in the community rejoice and share honor for their heritage. Visiting community expand and share in these experiences expanding their own visioning and sharing in new friendships and connections. Virtual community relives the festival through our photos and videos across time and space.
Describe the ideal person for this trip.
The ideal person for this trip is ready to take their life to the next level. Ready for new possibilities of life and purpose, ready to make a global impact, and ready to attune to the vibration of the Earth.
Is this you? You can book 1 of the 2 remaining spots on the trip to Colombia for the Festival del Tamborito in January 2024. Use code WORLD-BUILDING for 18% off your booking.