Having just celebrated the Carnaval de la Marina in the Marina Casa de Campo on Monday, Feb. 26 (photos coming soon), here we continue our series about the fascinating different carnival characters of the Carnaval Dominicano. This week, let’s find out about the Diablos Cojuelos.
You are not in the Dominican Republic if you don’t see any of these during the Carnival! And believe me, you’ll definitely watch out for these since their ‘job’ is to frighten the audience as they dance and hit those in their path with their weapon – balloons made out of a really hard material (in the past, an animal bladder)! So watch out, it is really painful!
Diablos Cojuelos
Represent a naughty and playful demon who hits and frightens the audience with their balloons.
They are the central characters of the Dominican Carnival and are indeed the most famous.
We can see these characters in most of the towns across the Dominican Republic.
Their costumes ridicule medieval knights – with a cape and colorful baggy pants.
They add ornaments of mirrors, bells and ribbons to their costumes.
Their mask represents an animal or a horrible and frightening face.
Different areas of the Dominican Republic have different names and different types of Diablos Cojuelos
The following are all different types of Diablos Cojuelos:
Diablos Cojuelos – Santo Domingo, La Vega and San Cristobal
The mask, costumes and the name “Diablo Cojuelo” can vary depending on the carnival city – except for La Vega (a town at the North of the country), Santo Domingo (the capital) and San Cristobal (a town in the South of the country), where the name “Diablo Cojuelo” remains the same. These “traditional” Diablos Cojuelos always have a very scary mask with long sharp teeth and very elaborate costumes, often with lots of feathers.
Diablos Cojuelos – Santo Domingo, La Vega and San Cristobal
The mask, costumes and the name “Diablo Cojuelo” can vary depending on the carnival city – except for La Vega (a town at the North of the country), Santo Domingo (the capital) and San Cristobal (a town in the South of the country), where the name “Diablo Cojuelo” remains the same. These “traditional” Diablos Cojuelos always have a very scary mask with long sharp teeth and very elaborate costumes, often with lots of feathers.
Santiago – “Los lechones”
These Diablos Cojuelos from Santiago are known as “Los Lechones”. They wear mask that is meant to resemble a pig, with big horns and a duckbill.
Usually they carry a whip instead of the traditional balloons. These costumes are always very brightly colored!
Montecristi – Los Toros
These Diablos Cojuelos from Santiago are known as “Los Toros”. The mask of Los Toros is a pig snout without horns and floppy ears made of rubber.
Remember:This is article #3 about Los Diablos Cojuelos, but we will be publishing a series of articles about all the Carnival characters, so stay alert if you want to learn more!
Spanish
Diablos Cojuelos
