Corpus Christi at La Villa

Corpus Christi at La Villa de Los Santos has been celebrated since the colonial period and runs for around nine days, and what happens in the street is a sequence of danced dramas that fuse Catholic teaching with older material: the diablicos sucios, the dirty devils in ragged red and black with horned masks, the diablicos limpios in tidier costume, the danza del torito, the montezuma dances, and the great confrontation in which the archangel Michael defeats the devil in the church door. The masks are made locally by named craftsmen. UNESCO inscribed the festival in 2021, and the Azuero has been running it without interruption for four centuries.

What to look for

• The diablicos sucios - the dirty devils in ragged red and black with horned masks.
• The confrontation - the archangel defeating the devil at the church door.
• The mask workshops - open in the town in the weeks beforehand.
• The nine days - the full sequence of dances rather than one parade.

When to go

Corpus Christi falls sixty days after Easter, so it moves between late May and late June. The main days are the Thursday and the following weekend. Accommodation in La Villa and Chitré is limited and fills.

Good to know

The dates move each year with Easter and are confirmed late. Accommodation in the Azuero towns is limited and books out; many visitors stay in Chitré and drive in. It is hot, crowded and goes on for hours in full sun. The dances are religious observance rather than a show and should be watched as such.

Nearby

Chitré is five minutes; the other Azuero towns hold their own festivals.