Traditional Haitian Rara Music at Little Haiti Cultural Center

'Rara music' is one form of grass root music which is used for mainly street processions, typically during Easter Week; it circulates throughout Haiti and within the minds of its diaspora all over the world. It is like the heartbeat that has kept alive the frequent street parties in the Little Haiti neighborhood. To preserve this Haitian form of festival music a youth 'Rara institute' has been created at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex in partnership with the Caribbean American Visual Cultural Preservation where the teens can learn to play and make traditional instruments. The center entertains visitors with Rara music on the third Friday of each month.

The Little Haiti Cultural Center had started the Rara learning program on February 2, 2015, twice a week for 16 weeks with a sanction funding of $50,000 received and had provided instruments to 60 children. The instruments of Rara music include a set of cylindrical bamboo trumpets called vaksen (sometimes made of metal pipes), drums, güiros or güiras (a percussion instrument), maracas, and metal bells. Sometimes cylindrical metal trumpets are also played which are made from recycled metal, often coffee cans. This is another unique opportunity offered by Little Haiti Cultural Center to gain exposure to Afro-Caribbean culture, entertain and develop a new talent, and expand the knowledge of the arts. The center's program of workshops and classes were culminated with the Haitian Heritage Festival in May 2015.

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