Dancing Devils of Yare - Procession and Dress Code

Procession and Dress Code

In this folkloric festivity devotion is given to the patron saint Saint Francis of Paola, to the Blessed Sacrament and to Jesus Christ. The celebration starts Wednesday with a wake where fulías (a native music style) are played, décimas (native form of poetry) are recited and rosaries and other prayers are prayed until dawn. The next day the devoted disguised as devils perform dances around the principal square of the town. They also parade through the streets, dressed in their red costumes and their masks, dancing to the rhythm of corríos (octosyllabic musical poems).

Later on, they move towards the front of the church and when mass is ended, the Eucharist is placed at the church's entrance and a sort of fight representation begins between the devils and the guardians. Finally, the devils surrender and kneel in front of the Eucharist to show submission, dancing then to the rhythm of the bamba, a music style that is more reverential. The entire performance represents the victory of Good over Evil. The dancing devils wear a red shirts, trousers and stockings, a mask depicting a devil, and canvas sandals. They carry a cross made out of blessed palm leafs, a rosary, and a medallion with the image of Christ (that can be substituted by another Christian religious image). They also carry in one hand a devil-shaped maraca and in the other a whip.