A bit of information:   During the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, one very often comes across a Rara band marching on the dusty country roads of Haiti.  The bands construct unique instruments such as drums, maracas and trumpets, which are made from large cooking oil cans. These produce an amazing variety of rhythms and melody. Long bamboo tubes, with leather covering one end, produce haunting bass tones. In addition, long metal cylinders, that look similar to a large nutmeg grater, are rubbed with bent wire to produce a unique scratching sound.

Rara bands typically sing songs in Haitian Creole to celebrate Haiti's African ancestry. The songs generally address the difficult issues of life, poverty and political situations of the day.