El Callao

El Callao grew as a gold town in the nineteenth century and drew workers from the British and French Caribbean, particularly Trinidad, Martinique and Guadeloupe, who brought calypso with them. The result is a carnival unlike anything else in Venezuela: calypso sung in a local patois, madamas in bright headwraps representing the Antillean matriarchs, medio pintos who smear onlookers with molasses, and diablos with whips. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016.

Highlights

• The madamas - figures in bright dress and headwraps representing Antillean matriarchs.
• The calypso - the music brought by Caribbean miners, sung in a local patois.
• The medio pintos - figures who smear spectators with molasses for coins.
• The diablos - masked devils cracking whips through the parade.

When to go

Carnival falls in February or March depending on Easter, and the parades build over the preceding weeks. Outside that the town is quiet. Accommodation fills for carnival.

Before you go

There is little for visitors outside carnival. The town is a working mining centre and facilities are basic. Being smeared with molasses is part of the event and clothes suffer.

Nearby

Ciudad Guayana is north, and La Gran Sabana is south.

Key facts