Alfombras, the procession carpets

What it is

In Antigua Guatemala, during Lent and Holy Week, the cobbled streets are covered block after block. Each household or group makes the stretch in front of its door. Some carpets are fine stencilled patterns in dyed sawdust. Others are thick beds of pine needles decorated with flowers, palm blossoms, vegetables and bread. In La Orotava, on Tenerife, the streets are carpeted with flower petals for Corpus Christi. The square in front of its town hall holds a huge picture made of coloured volcanic sands from the island.

Where it comes from

The custom of strewing flowers and branches before a procession is old in Catholic Europe, and Spanish settlers brought it to the Americas. In Guatemala it met local traditions of making offerings with flowers, pine and feathers. The sawdust carpet in its present form developed there over the following centuries. In La Orotava the flower carpets date from the middle of the nineteenth century, when a local family laid the first one outside its house. Huamantla, in Mexico, lays kilometres of carpet on one night in August.

How it is made

Sawdust is sieved and dyed in batches of strong colour. The street is swept and wetted, and a base layer of plain sawdust is levelled with boards to even out the cobbles. Wooden or cardboard stencils are laid on top and coloured sawdust is sifted through them, one colour at a time. Makers work from planks set across the carpet so they do not kneel on it. Flowers such as chrysanthemums, bougainvillea and roses are added last. The surface is misted with water to keep the wind from lifting it.

How to take part

1. In Antigua Guatemala, walk the procession route in the hours before dawn on Good Friday to see carpets being finished.
2. In La Orotava, go for the Corpus Christi celebrations in June. Check the town's date for the year.
3. Ask if you can help. Many families welcome an extra pair of hands with the sifting.

Good manners

• Never step on a carpet. Only the procession may cross it.
• Stand aside and stay quiet as the float and its bearers pass.
• Do not use a flash in the faces of the bearers.

The flowers

ChrysanthemumAutumn-blooming flower with thousands of varieties, cherished in East Asia and beyondRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursCarnationA fragrant flower with ruffled petals, grown worldwide for decoration and meaning

Also part of it, and being written: Sawdust carpet, Bougainvillea, Pine.

Sources and further reading

• Sawdust carpet on Wikipedia