Remedios, Cuba (CNN) -- For 200 years, folks in Remedios, a small town in the Cuban countryside, have shared the legendary tale of Father Francisco Vigil de Quiñones. As the story goes, Father Vigil was annoyed that so few of his parishioners were attending his church's Christmas Eve midnight Mass. So the Catholic priest had an idea. He employed a few of the town's children to create a ruckus that would get people out of bed and into the pews. They threw rocks, beat sticks and awoke the town, prompting them to fill the church. Two centuries later, on Christmas Eve 2010, the ruckus remains, but the worshippers have disappeared. The town's current priest, Father Agustin Ibarra Diaz, stood overlooking the same house of worship -- gazing at a sanctuary completely empty of parishioners. Outside the colonial-era church, salsa music blared.
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Huge 200 year-old Christmas Eve fireworks fest ignites joy in Remedios, Cuba
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Originally, event attracted worshippers, but now church closes for safety
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"We're afraid that rockets will fly into the church and kill someone."
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Someone gets burned every year, say locals, but there are few serious injuries
Some of the firework specialists use @placeholder cigars to ignite the fireworks.