Chinelos

The chinelo was born as mockery: in the nineteenth century, townspeople of Morelos - excluded from the hacienda elite's masked balls - invented their own carnival figure to lampoon the Spanish gentleman. The costume is satire in fabric: a mask of pink mesh with an upturned black beard and haughty features, a flowing robe of velvet embroidered with sequined eagles, virgins and flowers, gloves for aristocratic hands, and a towering plumed hat like a jeweled lampshade. The dance is the brinco - the jump - a bouncing, shoulder-rolling hop performed en masse to brass bands, hypnotically simple and sustained for hours as comparsas lead the whole town through the streets. Tlayacapan claims the origin; Tepoztlan and Yautepec developed their own robe styles, and each defends its variant with civic passion. Carnival before Lent is the great season, but chinelos now bless everything from saints' days to weddings. Joining the brinco - visitors are welcomed in - is compulsory at least once.

What you actually see

• The masks and hats - upturned beards under plumed, sequined towers.
• The brinco - the mass bouncing dance behind brass bands.
• The comparsas - neighborhood troupes leading processions for days.
• Three robe schools - Tlayacapan, Tepoztlan and Yautepec styles compared.

When to go

Carnival weeks between late January and early March, varying by town - Tepoztlan and Tlayacapan stage the most visited brincos. Confirm each town's dates; they deliberately stagger.

Honest expectations

This is a street fiesta: loud brass, dense crowds, fireworks and dancing that outlasts most visitors. Accommodation in the small towns fills for Carnival - day-trip from Cuernavaca or the capital if beds are gone.

Nearby

Tlayacapan's monastery and pottery, Tepoztlan's crag and market, and Cuernavaca's gardens frame any chinelo excursion.