Festival Nacional Indígena 2025: The 55th Edition in Jayuya

Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2025 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 look back at the 2024 and 2023 editions.

The 55th Festival Nacional Indígena ran Friday, November 21 through Sunday, November 23, 2025, in the town plaza of Jayuya, with opening events beginning Wednesday, November 19. The theme was “Maboyas y Jupías,” an invitation to explore the spiritual world of the Taínos, their beliefs about souls and the spirits that lived among them, and how those visions still speak to contemporary Puerto Rican culture. Organized as always by the Centro Cultural Jayuyano.

The 2025 festival at a glance

• What: 55th Festival Nacional Indígena
• When: November 21 to 23, 2025 (opening events from November 19)
• Theme: “Maboyas y Jupías”
• Where: Jayuya town plaza, with events at the Centro Cultural Jayuyano
• Admission: Free
• Organized by: Centro Cultural Jayuyano
• Central exhibition: The work of Daisy Morales Morales, retired art teacher and former president of the Centro Cultural

The Centro Cultural’s president, Félix González Mercado, framed the weekend as a gathering for all of Puerto Rico, promising an artisan fair, Puerto Rican music, cultural competitions, and exhibitions, with the areítos and the recreation of the ancestral juego de batú, which he described as a symbol of unity, skill, and spirituality.

The 2025 program

Here is how the 55th edition unfolded, day by day.

Wednesday, November 19

• 6:00 PM · Opening of the exhibition hall: “Rostros Angelicales,” work by Daisy Morales Morales, former president of the CCJ, at the Centro Cultural Jayuyano, with an artistic presentation by Xaymara Rivera Martes

Thursday, November 20

• 9:00 AM · Unveiling of the public artwork “Sabana del Coabey” by Daniel Silva Pagán, a 6′ x 6′ ceramic mural at the Tumba del Indio Puertorriqueño, with the Banda Indígena de Jayuya

Friday, November 21

• 7:00 PM · Encendido del Fuego Taíno (lighting of the Taíno fire), Banda Indígena de Jayuya, and protocol acts, including the dedication to Samarys Barbot Arroyo, the Orden Guamiquina to archaeologist Daniel Shelley, the Orden del Cemí to Prof. Juan Manuel Delgado Colón, and the Orden del Batey to Orialí López González
• 9:00 PM · Armonía Cultural
• 10:15 PM · George D. Sullivan

Saturday, November 22

• 10:00 AM · Artisan fair and exhibition hall
• 1:00 PM · Gíbaros de Altura
• 1:00 PM · Conference: “Manejo del patrimonio arqueológico en Puerto Rico; Tibes, Caguana y Cueva del Indio,” with archaeologist Francisco Nolla, at the Centro Cultural Jayuyano
• 2:30 PM · Inarü
• 3:45 PM · Banda Indígena, Danzantes de la Tierra Alta
• 5:00 PM · Tepeu
• 8:30 PM · Reinado Indígena (Indigenous pageant)
• 9:30 PM · Premios de Certámenes (competition awards)
• 9:45 PM · Ingrid y Dennis
• 11:00 PM · Luisito Berdecía y su Grupo Patria Amada

Sunday, November 23

• 10:00 AM · Artisan fair and exhibition hall
• 1:00 PM · Bomba pa’l Pueblo, sponsored by the Programa Promoción Cultural / Apoyo a las Artes
• 1:00 PM · “Viaje al Koabei: costumbres mortuorias de los pueblos originarios de Borikén,” by Amanax’ri, practitioner of the Borikua Indigenous tradition
• 2:30 PM · Son Nación
• 3:45 PM · Banda Indígena / Danzantes de la Tierra Alta
• 5:15 PM · Riestra y Los Bohíques

What the 2025 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 scholarship is real. The 2025 lineup included a conference on managing Puerto Rico’s archaeological heritage covering Tibes, Caguana, and Cueva del Indio, plus a talk on the mortuary customs of Borikén’s original peoples delivered by a practitioner of the Borikua Indigenous tradition. This is not decoration; it is a working cultural program.

The honors matter. The Orden Guamiquina went to an archaeologist and the Orden del Cemí to a professor. The festival’s ceremonial orders recognize people who actually advance Indigenous scholarship in Puerto Rico.

The art is commissioned. A 6′ x 6′ ceramic mural was unveiled at the Tumba del Indio Puertorriqueño, and the central exhibition honored a former Centro Cultural president and retired art teacher. The festival leaves permanent things behind.

The music runs late. Saturday’s program pushed to 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. 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 55th edition? Tell us in the comments what you saw, which artisan you bought from, or what the batú was like up close. We read every one.

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This post covers the 2025 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.