From Tilcara to Wikipedia: Wikimedia Argentina Strengthens Its Work with the Jujuy Community to Document the Carnival

As part of the “Nuestro Carnaval en Wikipedia” -Our Carnival on Wikipedia- campaign, we traveled to Tilcara during the Jujuy Carnival to work alongside the local community, document the celebration, and improve the information available about this tradition on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.

The “Nuestro Carnaval en Wikipedia” campaign began with virtual meetings with representatives of the local community, historians from the National University of Jujuy, representatives of the provincial government, and local media. These meetings allowed us to establish institutional contacts and develop a work plan that will help us frame our actions within a long-term collaborative strategy.

In that context, we traveled to Tilcara from February 12 to 14 with the aim of raising awareness about Wikimedia projects, establishing partnerships with local institutions, documenting the carnival, and improving Wikipedia articles.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon, just as Jueves de Comadres was being celebrated—a day when women gather “without husbands or children” (as one of the participants told us) to chat, share drinks, and dance. During the afternoon, we watched several dance troupes parading through the streets and were also able to join the celebration held every year at the market, where various bands played while the women danced, toasted with chicha (a Latin American drink made from fermented corn), and handed out basil, talcum powder, foam, and paper streamers.

During our stay, we also had the opportunity to meet with key stakeholders and potential partners to advance a work agenda in the province. We visited the Biblioteca Popular, where Marcelo, the librarian, told us how the institution works and how Carnival is experienced in La Quebrada from a local, ancestral, spiritual, and symbolic perspective. 

We also visited the exhibition at the “Dr. Eduardo Casanova” Archaeological and Anthropological Museum, where Miguel told us about the museum’s collection, which includes ancient objects from the region’s indigenous peoples used in daily life and rituals, with the aim of exploring future collaborations within the framework of our Culture program.

Then we visited the Terry National Museum, dedicated to art exhibitions and public activities for the entire community. There, Lara welcomed us, and we learned about the museum’s work with the community, with a special focus on activities for children, people in the context of confinement, and the collection’s accessible design for people who are deaf.

As part of the Tilcara Carnival, we also took part in the “unearthing of the devil” or Pujllay—a figure symbolizing joy and the release of tension—organized by the Los Canchis Canchis carnival group. There, we were able to observe and document the moment of offerings and expressions of gratitude, accompanied by a brass band. Later, the devils, devilesses, little devils, and little devilesses descended, and talcum powder, paper streamers, chicha, and foam began to take center stage among everyone to the rhythm of the music.

The next day, Tilcara was already crowded: many people were arriving to be part of the Carnival and the disinterment ceremonies. 

As part of this initiative, we also organized an online edit-a-thon, during which we continued to improve the information available about Our Carnival on Wikipedia.

Beyond the work agenda and the goal of improving the information and images available about the Carnival on Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, this trip was also an opportunity to strengthen ties with the Jujuy community and plan new lines of work in the province. For us, supporting these processes alongside cultural institutions, community spaces, and local stakeholders is a way to ensure that more stories, knowledge, and traditions from across Argentina find their place on Wikipedia and within the ecosystem of free knowledge.

Here is the link to the campaign, where you can learn more about the initiative and find articles to improve on Wikipedia:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Nuestro_carnaval_en_Wiki_2026

We’re also sharing some tips for taking photos at public events:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Recomendaciones._Nuestro_Carnaval_en_Wiki_(cropped).jpg