“Fiesta de los Diablitos”

While visiting a friend in the Talamanca Mountains we decided to go in search of the Boruca Indian Reserve where they make the popular masks that are so beautiful to hang on the wall to decorate your home.  After a long ride along the Rio General and across the mountain ridge on a long and winding dirt road we found the village quiet and deserted and were approached by a young Indian boy named Edgar (nicknamed YoYo) asking if we would give him a ride down the mountain to the village of Rey Curré to the Fiesta de los Diablitos.  He was surprised that we did not know about the festival as it is a big event and said we would enjoy it.   The reservation was not very big so we made a quick tour around and loaded YoYo along with his brother Columbo into the back of our Defender and headed back down the mountain.  On the long ride back down the mountain we enjoyed learning about YoYo and a little about his tribe since he spoke excellent English.  His brother could understand some when hearing it but could not speak it very well.  YoYo is 25 years old and had been to England when he was 20 to study and become an Iron Chef!


When we arrived to Curré they told us we could walk or drive through the village to find the Festival.  We drove around for a while with no luck and stopped at the little store where there was a group gathered outside.  We were told that they had just come by and to listen for the horn blowing.  There was an old Indian man standing under a shade tree selling fresh squeezed orange juice so we stopped to have some and it was very refreshing.  Then we saw a large group of Indians climbing the path up the hill nearby and we hurried and drove around to where they would come out.  We found the Diabilitos in the yard of one of the Casa's putting on their show.  It was fascinating to watch them push and shove one another and beat the bull with their branches.  As the procession was leaving the yard a young girl stopped and offered us a drink of the Chicha from a half of a coconut shell that they were drinking as a ritual at every home that they visited.  It was very tangy and had a little bite to it.  We noticed that many of the participants appeared to be drunk.  We were told that they would perform this parade throughout the day and then have a big party at night.  The Festival will be through the weekend and is held every year.

 

About the Festival:
The most famous of Boruca festivals is the three day New Year’s festival, called the “Juego de los Diablos” or the “Fiesta de los Diablitos,”.  The history behind the modern festival begins with the Spanish conquest. The early Spanish conquistadors called the indigenous people devils because they noticed that the indigenous were not baptized and therefore assumed that they worshiped the devil. For this reason, one of the characters in the festival is called the “diablo,” or devil. The diablos dress in intricate masks carved from balsa wood. The masks represent the defense of the indigenous against the Spanish; in the face of the Spanish’s advanced weaponry, the indigenous had only natural defenses and believed in the power of animals like the jaguar. Thus, the masks display fierce animal and devil designs painted in bright, acrylic colors. The diablos also dress in “sacos” made from the cloth of “gangoche,” which are covered in large banana leaves, or “munshi” in the Brunka language. This costume represents the natural spirit of the indigenous, and practically, can help protect players during the festival. The Spanish conquistadors are represented as one character is the festival—the “torro,” or bull. All interactions between the diablos and the torro are symbolic of the historical struggles between the indigenous people and the Spanish. The ultimate triumph of the indigenous, or diablos, at the end of the festival symbolizes the survival of the Brunka and their culture in spite of Spanish colonial power.
The festival, also called the dance.  Around 9 pm, the diablos, played by local males ages 14 or older, assemble in a clearing in the mountains near the town of Boruca. This location is said to be the birthplace of the diablos. There, they organize themselves and wait for the signal of the “Diablo Mayor,” or elder devil. The Mayor is typically an older male in the community that has participated in the festival for many years. The Mayor directs the festival proceedings. Carrying his conch, he instructs the other diablos where to dance and how long to remain at each location. At midnight on the night of the 30th, which soon becomes the morning of the 31st, the Mayor blows his conch to signal to the diablos the beginning of the celebration. To notify the rest of the town, the church bells ring to the tune of the funerary song, marking the death the year. At the commencement of the festival, the diablos stream down the hill and dance to the central square, where they celebrate together until the early morning hours. The dance of involves jumping and connecting back to back in order to raise a fellow diablo off the ground. The tune of the dance is set by one drum accompanied by a flute. Unlike the role of the Mayor, the role of the drummer and flautist is exchanged between many different men in the community. Around 2 am on the 31st, the celebration pauses and is set to resume later in the morning.
Around 9 am on the 31st, the Mayor sounds his conch to awaken and call the diablos, who then spend the entire day in the community dancing on the porches of every household and drinking chicha, a traditional alcoholic beverage made from corn seedlings fermented with yeast, and eating tamales. In the festival commemorating the end of 2009, there were 80 diablos that danced. Because the festival has grown so large, the proceedings now involve “arrediadores,” or herders, who stay at the back of the procession to make sure that no diablo is left behind. The diablos pass through the town three times during the day. This part of the celebration represents the glory of the Brunka prior to the Spanish conquest. On the morning of January 1, the historical significance shifts because the torro, representing the relentless conquest of the Spanish, joins the dance. The role of the torro is played by many different men in the community. The costume is constructed out of light balsa wood and filled with dry leaves that burn easily at the end of the festival. The mask on the costume is constructed of a durable cedar wood, but has horns from a real bull. The torro chases the diablos around the town, still guided by the sound of the Mayor’s conch. The dance between the two characters involves the diablos taunting the torro until the torro affords them a durable blow. At first, the diablos are able to taunt and resist the torro, but as dancing progresses through the evening and into the morning of the 2nd, the torro begins to dominate, as is true in the history of the Spanish colonization. By 3 pm on the 2nd, the torro has killed all of the diablos. Following the death of the last diablo, an action that represents the subjugation of the Brunka by the Spanish, the diablos begin to resurrect themselves one by one. As the diablos come back to life, the tides of the celebration begin to turn once more. The torro hides as the diablos begin to hunt for him with the help of a new character, the “perro,” or the dog. The diablos and the perro dance through the town looking for the torro. When they finally find and capture him, female diablitos, played by males, plead on his behalf. Their pleads, however, go unanswered, and the torro is taken to the river where his costume, with the exception of the mask, is burned. The burning of the torro marks both the end of the festival and the ultimate survival of the Brunka.
There are many different roles in the dance of the Juego de los Diablos, but no roles include women. This may be due to the fact that historically, Brunka women did not have much power in the organization and traditions of the community. More recently, however, women have assumed an active role in the festival by participating in activities such as the Organizational Committee. This committee is composed of males and females and begins meeting in early November to plan the festivities. The festival is by far the largest event in Boruca during the year, and it attracts many tourists, so the committee must organize purchasing of food, housing for the tourists, and the logistics of the dance itself. During the actual festival, many women prepare and provide food for the diablos and the tourists. The festival involves the diablos stopping outside of every house to dance, and after which they break for tamales and chicha. Certain women in the community volunteer to provide lunch for all of the diablos at the town “salon”, or community center. The women in the household also take charge of the tourists. If the family has room, the woman will rent spare bedrooms to tourists, feed them, and tend to their needs. Lastly, some women and children follow the dancing diablos to watch the festival up-close. This procession is most prominent around the time when the torro is killing diablos and later, when it is burned.

This information was provided by:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boruca 

Please enjoy our photo medley of our visit to this fascinating place!

This is just one of the many adventures that 
we have enjoyed since we retired to  
this beautiful country of Costa Rica!

If you are thinking of retiring 
or interested in a vacation home 

you should come and visit us in Costa del Sol 

on the Central Pacific Coast.

There is so much to see and do here.....

Pura Vida!

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