Carnaval d'El Callao

The festival

In the gold town of El Callao, south of Venezuela, the carnival speaks three languages and dances calipso. Born from the Antillean migrations — British and French who came to work the gold mines in the 19th century — it is led by the Madamas, matrons in colorful dresses and spectacular capes inherited from Guadeloupe and Martinique, "pillars of callaoense identity".

The red and black Diablos and Mediopintos, the body and face, are covered with "negro humo" (swimming, paper and water), which threaten with a laugh of barbouille, which refuses its obole. El Callao's calipso, sung in Spanish with English and French in the sound of bumbac, cuatro and steel drum, has been riding since the first official parade of 1914.

Carnival has been a part of UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage since 2016; its festivities begin on 1 January with the "Carnaval Grito" and culminate in the gras of February.