Festival Nacional Indígena 2024: The 54th Edition in Jayuya

Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2024 recap. For the full history and what the festival is about, see our complete guide: Festival Nacional Indígena: The Complete Guide. For the current edition, see our 2026 post, or read our 2025 and 2023 recaps.

The 54th Festival Nacional Indígena ran Friday, November 15 through Sunday, November 17, 2024, in Jayuya. The theme honored Indigenous agricultural products, “Honrando los productos agrícolas indígenas,” with festival art showing yuca, corn, sweet potato, and other crops carried in a Taíno vessel. Organized as always by the Centro Cultural Jayuyano Alberto Suárez Martínez, with the Municipio Autónomo de Jayuya, the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, and the Compañía de Turismo de Puerto Rico.

The 2024 festival at a glance

• What: 54th Festival Nacional Indígena de Jayuya
• When: November 15 to 17, 2024
• Theme: “Honrando los productos agrícolas indígenas” (honoring Indigenous agricultural products)
• Where: Jayuya town plaza, with events at the Centro Cultural Jayuyano
• Admission: Free
• Organized by: Centro Cultural Jayuyano Alberto Suárez Martínez
• Dedicated to: Antonio “Toño” Rivera Rivera

The 2024 program

Here is how the 54th edition unfolded, day by day.

Friday, November 15

• 7:00 PM · Encendido del Fuego Taíno (lighting of the Taíno fire) and Banda Indígena de Jayuya, with protocol acts: the festival dedication to Antonio “Toño” Rivera Rivera, the Orden del Cacique to Dr. Sebastián Robiou Lamarche, and the Orden del Batey to Félix A. Marín Reyes
• 9:00 PM · Junte de Plenerxs
• 10:15 PM · Luis Berdecía y su Grupo Patria Amada

Saturday, November 16

• 10:00 AM · Artisan fair and exhibition hall
• 1:00 PM · Son Nación
• 1:00 PM · La Jornada Nacional Indígena de Borike (workshops, areyto, conversatorios) at the Centro Cultural Jayuyano
• 2:30 PM · Hermanos de la Cultura
• 3:45 PM · Banda Indígena / Danzantes de la Tierra Alta
• 5:00 PM · Tepeu, sponsored by the Compañía de Turismo and Voy Turisteando
• 8:30 PM · Reinado Indígena (Indigenous pageant)
• 9:30 PM · Premios de Certámenes (competition awards)
• 9:45 PM · Grupo Ausuba
• 11:00 PM · To be announced (the published program left this closing slot open)

Sunday, November 17

• 10:00 AM · Artisan fair and exhibition hall
• 1:00 PM · Riestra y los Bohíques
• 1:00 PM · Book presentation: “Diccionario Taíno, documentado y comentado,” by author Sebastián Robiou
• 2:30 PM · Son D’ Cultura, with guest trovador Irvin Santiago
• 3:45 PM · Banda Indígena / Danzantes de la Tierra Alta
• 5:15 PM · Animales Parranderos, sponsored by the Compañía de Turismo and Voy Turisteando

What the 2024 edition tells you about the festival

A few things stand out from the program, and they are useful if you are planning a future visit.

The theme reaches past ceremony and into the soil. Where other years explore Taíno spirituality, 2024 honored what the Taínos grew and ate: yuca, corn, sweet potato, the crops that fed Borikén and still anchor Puerto Rican cooking. It is a reminder that Indigenous heritage on this island is agricultural as much as ceremonial, and it fits a mountain town that still farms coffee.

One scholar, honored and published in the same weekend. Dr. Sebastián Robiou Lamarche received the Orden del Cacique on Friday, then presented his book, a documented and annotated Taíno dictionary, on Sunday. That is the festival’s academic seriousness in a single arc.

The Jornada Nacional Indígena de Borike is the deep end. Saturday’s programming at the Centro Cultural included workshops, an areyto, and conversatorios, a full parallel track for anyone who wants more than the plaza stage.

The music runs late. Friday closed at 10:15 PM and Saturday’s program pushed past 11:00 PM. If you are coming from San Juan, plan an overnight rather than a mountain drive at midnight.

Planning for the next edition

The festival returns each November around the 19th. Our 2026 post covers the current edition as details are confirmed, and our 2025 and 2023 recaps have those years’ full programs. For the full story of the festival, its 1970 origins, and what to expect, see our complete guide.

Coming up into the mountains? Pair it with our Puerto Rico travel guide and our Central Mountains guide. To understand the people the festival honors, read our piece on the Taíno Indians of Puerto Rico.

Follow along for updates

• Facebook: Festival Nacional Indígena de Jayuya
• Facebook: Centro Cultural Jayuyano

Were you at the 54th edition? Tell us in the comments what you saw, what you ate, or which artisan you bought from. We read every one.

---

This post covers the 2024 edition, which has concluded. Details reflect the program as published by the organizers at the time. For the full story of the festival, see our complete guide to the Festival Nacional Indígena.