‘A story that needs to be told’: the Manacillos festival of Colombia – photo essay

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 important Every 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 ...

By Ever Andrés Mercado; words Harriet Barber