The Limping Devil Masks

Los Pepines Masks

Los Pepines masks are the most emblematic of the Santiago Carnival and of the entire country for that matter. The masks have long smooth horns, so long and sharp that if you got too close they’d pierce you like a nail but with the warning that says, I am the fearful, loud, jubilant limping devil. With its broad face like a duck painted thousand of colors or bathed in just one, never to be changed, so that the Pepines can be identified with a great deal of pride.

The Masks of La Joya

The limping devil of La Joya parades joyously with its horns on full display. The La Joya mask with it sharp, slightly curved snout sticking up, its wide base and giant specially designed horns. The colors and textures follow a pattern that is in keeping with the very essence of Carnival in the La Joya neighborhood.

Pueblo Nuevo Masks

Santiago grew and is still growing although there was a momento when for many years the residents of the new neighborhoods (pueblo nuevo) wanted to be part of carnival in the city but without blending in and imitating the characters of La Joya and Los Pepines. This is how they began their own unique culture and tradition of masks and characters but without the typical characteristics of the other masks and towns. Cone-shaped little flowers on the front of the on the top of papier maché masks instead of spikes, multicolored horns with a smooth horns, huge shimmering eyes, oblique and prompting whatever your imagination comes up with…

Fantasy Masks

Fantasy plays an equally relevant role in the combination of elements that make up the masks of Santiago. Artisans use all manner of gadgets and devices when making their masks each year. Their horns, for example, often are real and hence awaken a strange sensation in the viewers. Their creativity opens the possibility to use all manner of material to make their masks with which they compete on a national level for prizes and recognition.

See Ruddy Alexis Rodríguez, a mask maker from Santiago>>