Monday, October 30, 2023

WITCHES, DEVILS SCARE YOU STRAIGHT IN INDIGENOUS NICARAGUA FESTIVAL

Sunday 29 October 2023 - 



MASAYA - Thousands of people dressed as terrifying characters from fables and legends have taken to the streets in a Nicaraguan festival heavy on fright.

The Aguizotes festival, held in an indigenous neighborhood in the city of Masaya, is known for local artisans' spectacularly spooky masks.

Music for the event, in the town south of Managua, is cool in its own right -- a hypnotizing soundtrack of drums, cymbals, trumpets, trombones and tubas.

"Our grandfathers and grandmothers did this to instill fear in future generations -- so that they would do the right things," William Guerrero, decked out in a red devil's mask, told AFP.


AFP | Oswaldo RIVAS

The festival is held the last Friday of each October.

Characters include a black devil with enormous horns and a Witch of the Volcano. Another traditional character, the "nagua" or haunted cart, travels through town at night making a clamorous noise. Driving it -- dressed in a white tunic and carrying his signature scythe -- is the figure of "Death."

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