Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Festival de diablos y congos 2009








El tradicional baile entre el bien y el mal de los diablos y congos se tomó el parque y las calles de Portobelo ayer, desde las 10:00 de la mañana. El festival, cuyo tema fue ángeles y diablos, atrajo a capitalinos, extranjeros y colonenses, quienes disfrutaron del espectáculo gratuito de más de 10 grupos provenientes de diferentesáreas de la provincia de Colón.

The African slave and his Spanish tormentor return to life to engage in spectacular ritualistic dances and songs at the biennial Festival of the Devils and the Africans. Thousands of people watch Portobelo's historic recreation of good against evil.
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The colonial Fort of San Jerónimo provides the impressive backdrop for the Festival of the Devils and the Africans and becomes packed with onlookers.

The Spanish slave driver is represented as the devil in a menacing fiery red mask, dancing to the beat of the drum. The slave's song of freedom and courage recalls those sung on the slave plantations in a mocking rebellion of the slave owner and preserved by the cimarrónes, the escaped slaves. The dances at the Festival de los Diablos y Congos also depict the tricks invented by the slaves to escape to freedom and to avoid being whipped.

The port of Portobelo in the province of Colón was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1502. The city itself was founded in 1597 and named San Felipe de Portobelo after King Philip II of Spain.

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