Ever Andrés Mercado won a World Press Photo award for his work on the Manacillos festival, which takes place among the Afro-descendant community of Yurumanguí. Here he talks about the ancestral ritual and why it’s so importantEvery year, hundreds of Afro-Colombians climb into wooden boats and set sail down the Yurumanguí River. They navigate dense rainforest, scramble through mangroves, and battle charging river currents, to disembark about 12 hours later in the remote village of Juntas.It is here that they reunite and gather for an ancestral ritual: the Manacillos festival.People living in the Juntas village of Yurumanguí use the festival as a way to unite and attract more people who, for years, had to flee the territory. Continue reading...