Day 870
The Black and White Carnival Museum
Back in 1607 the slave population of Colombia was threatening to revolt. As a means of appeasement, the Spanish Crown gave all those enslaved in Spanish Haciendas in the south of the country, the right to an annual day off on 5 January to celebrate the Catholic Day of Epiphany. The slaves celebrated by taking to the streets, dancing and playing music, and to create a common identity had everyone paint their faces with black shoe polish and soot.
Today there is a 5-day festival. On 2 and 3 January artists from the surrounding villages descend onto the streets, stilt walkers, musicians folk law groups create 2 days of joyous street festivals. The whole town of Pasto celebrates. On 5 January ‘Dia de Negro’ it gets a little wilder, soot and flour is thrown over everyone and everything, as thousands join in with the celebrations. Then on 6 January ‘Dia de Blanco’ there is a parade. All year local artists work to create super-sized puppets which are transported through the streets on massive floats. Hundreds dress up in carnival outfits, thousands line the streets.
We visited the museum where many of the puppets are on display. Colourful, creative, fun, crazy, the Colombians sure know how to party. Shame we are here on 5 an 6 November not January!
