“Cuban villagers staged a mock funeral and burial of a living man in a boozy festival that has become an annual tradition in a small town near Havana. A tractor pulled a trailer slowly through the streets in the early morning carrying the man in a coffin and a four-piece tropical band. Behind it, dozens of people drank, clapped and sashayed to the music, as a white-haired woman pretending to be the bereaved widow wept loudly for the “deceased”.

The celebration in Santiago de las Vegas, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the Cuban capital, has been held each Feb. 5 for the last 30 years and is known as the Burial of Pachencho.

The bash kicked off Wednesday with a slow procession to the local cemetery. Pallbearers carried the coffin of “Pachencho”, who's known the other 364 days of the year as Divaldo Aguiar, to an open grave and used ropes to lower it six feet under.

A man masquerading as a priest in a flowing blue frock made the sign of the cross over the grave and muttered, “rest in peace”. People blew trumpets, banged drums and tossed flowers. Then villagers splashed rum into Aguiar's mouth from above, and he opened his eyes and climbed out of the tomb.

“Being reborn is the most beautiful thing there is in life”, said Aguiar, who said he has played “Pachencho” for several years running. The tradition was born on February 5, 1984, when villagers got the idea of putting on a mock burial to mark the end of local carnival season. It took its name from the title of a play that had been shown in what was then the town theater. Following Aguiar's miraculous revival, the procession returned to the center and the party went on all day long”. – Anne-Marie Garcia via Associated Press

In this February 5, 2014 photo, a girl cries for her mother from the back of a tractor pulling a mock coffin during the Burial of Pachencho celebration in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, Carlos Pineiro plays two trumpets during the celebration of a mock funeral known as the Burial of Pachencho in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, left, lies inside a coffin as Carmen Zamora, who plays his widow, center, stands near the coffin, during the town's annual tradition, known as the Burial of Pachencho, at a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Enric Marti/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, lies inside a mock coffin as villagers splash rum into Aguiar's mouth during the Burial of Pachencho celebration at a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, people carry a mock coffin inside a bus as they head to the local cemetery to celebrate the Burial of Pachencho in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Enric Marti/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, is lowered inside a grave site as he lies inside a mock coffin as part of the Burial of Pachencho celebration at a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, in a mock funeral known as the Burial of Pachencho, lies inside a coffin as Carmen Zamora, who plays the part of his widow, puts her hand on his head, at a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, lies inside a mock coffin during Burial of Pachencho celebration at a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, is carried in a mock coffin during the Burial of Pachencho celebration, through a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Enric Marti/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, people play drums during the Burial of Pachencho celebration in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Franklin Reyes/AP Photo)

In this February 5, 2014 photo, the hand of Divaldo Aguiar, who plays the part of Pachencho, in the mock funeral known as the Burial of Pachencho, reaches for a bottle of rum from inside his coffin, at a cemetery in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. (Photo by Enric Marti/AP Photo)