How To Party With The Devils In A Mexican Carnival

Oaxaca 2018 /

Before dropping me off on an empty street, the friendly moto-taxi (tuk-tuk) driver pointed at his ear and said “espera hasta que escucha las campanas del carnaval.” smiled, and drove away. Thanks to my broken Spanish, I understood that he said I should wait until I could hear las campanas. But, I had no idea what that word meant. As I was pulling up my phone to open google translate, I heard a faint noise of bells. I looked up and found the source of the noise as it came closer to me. “Wait until you hear the bells of the carnival”, I thought to myself. “So that’s what he meant.” Running in my direction were a group of devils.

Saying Yes To Obscure Adventures

I found out about the carnival just a day before the event. At the end of my free walking tour of Oaxaca’s centre, the guide fleetingly mentioned something about demons, masks, and pizza. Those are some of my favourite words stuffed into one sentence, so naturally, my ears perked up. “Every year on Tuesday before ash Wednesday, a carnival is held at San Martín Tilcajete, a tiny village in the state of Oaxaca, about 20kms from the main city centre,” she said.

I wrote down a vague address to flag a colectivo (shared taxi) to get to the Oaxacan village where the carnival was going to be held. After the walking tour, I cancelled all my plans for the next day and went to bed, excited for the next day’s adventure.

Hitchhiking To San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca

The woman from the tour told me to get to San Martín Tilcajete by early noon, but I was too excited to sleep in. With a coffee and pan dulce in hand, I left my hostel in Oaxaca city and made my way to the Mexican carnival at 8 am. It was probably one of the smartest things I did that day, as the journey that should have taken me an hour, took me four. First, I couldn’t find the right colectivo stand, and the private taxis were out of my solo traveller backpacker budget. Turns out, for one full hour, I was looking for the colectivos on the wrong side of the street.

Finally, I got on the right colectivo with a group of local women and their bags full of traditional handicrafts made in Oaxaca. Halfway through the ride, the taxi screeched to a halt. Of course, we had a flat tire.

Determined to make it to the Mexican Carnival, I picked up my camera bag and stood on the side of the main highway of Oaxaca, waiting for a ride. The town wasn’t too far but neither was it close enough for me to be able to walk to it. A highway bus going in the direction of the town stopped for me and gave me a ride. The bus helped me cover some more distance. From there I hitchhiked in a cute white Volkswagen with a mother-daughter duo. They dropped me off at a restaurant at the edge of San Martín Tilcajete. A moto-taxi then appeared and finally took me to my destination.

Diablos Of San Martín Tilcajete – Mexican Carnival

The exhaustion of the journey quickly disappeared as I found myself surrounded by demons of all ages. Some with their bodies painted in black with their faces white, while others were disguised in wooden masks. The demons and their family members hand-painted the masks the night before the festival. The designs represented mythical beings, animals, and even aliens.

This red masked, bull-horned demon dressed in white, looked like a leader of sorts. I also spotted a group of eye-catching silver oiled devils with feathered crows and skull masks. Women participants were adorned with gold paint and white feathers.

The kids were the best dressed! I am wary of photographing locals without their permission. But here, in this unique village of Oaxaca, everyone proudly flaunted their looks for cameras, as they paraded through the streets, attempting to “scare” anyone that crossed their path.

When Did This Mexican Carnival Start?

While there are religious, social, and cultural reasons for this carnival, no one can point out when the tradition first started in this Zapotec community. It was a communal party to set yourself free before lent, which for Catholics, is a period of repentance for mistakes.

One of the young devils directed me to follow him into a garden — which I later found out was the mayor’s house —where the rest of his crew was getting painted in black with burnt oil.

The diablo offered me a glass of hibiscus water and ran further inside to help his friends get ready. They were putting on their signature cowbells in their belts, which made the jiggling sound, announcing their arrival.

Some demons were singing and dancing, while others were eating or drinking. I was awestruck by the delightful madness around me.

The main dance of this colourful Mexican carnival takes place in the Townsquare. Before the party, there was a mock wedding held. A local next to me told me that the point of the wedding was to poke fun at the government and legal system. I saw two men dressed as bride and groom with a parade of people around them, cheering them on.

Casa Don Juan

There were a few more hours to go until the dance, so I went to explore the tiny town. Turning a corner, a stunning yellow walled building caught my eye. I realized it was an Alebrijes workshop when I peeked my head in at the entrance and saw a wall full of them.

Alebrijes (ah-leh-bree-hehs) are Mexican creatures that are visual expressions of fantasy and dreams. In the 1930s, Pedro Linares conceptualized these surreal animals in the form of paper-mâché creatures. The story goes like this: He was stricken with a serious illness when, during an unconscious fever dream, he saw strange creatures that were screaming out the word ‘Alebrije’.

Painted in vibrant colours, the alebrijes today are usually carved out of wood — and serve as a popular souvenir.

My peeking didn’t go unnoticed, and the owner of the workshop greeted me with a warm smile and invited me in. He showed me around his studio while telling me about the workshop’s history.

A family-owned wood carving workshop founded by the Hernandez Melchor with 32 years of legacy, Casa Don Juan was a gorgeous visual treat. It took me a whole hour to take in all the intricate wooden art.

He introduced me to some of his students that were painting detailed patterns on plain wooden pieces of colourless alebrijes.

Did you know? The Alebrijes that appear as spirit guides in Disney’s COCO were inspired by the ones from San Martín Tilcajete.

As I was leaving the workshop, the owner stopped me. He gave me his card and invited me to find their group at the dance party in the city centre. I grabbed a slice of pizza and joined the rest of the village at the town hall.

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Dance Party At The Town Hall

At the beginning of the dance party, I stood on the sidelines, watching and photographing this beautiful Mexican Carnival. But soon, one of the demons from earlier pulled me into the dance circle and slathered paint on my face and arms. He then turned around and went back out to bring in more mortals, marking his exit with diabolical laughter.

I mentally put it on my bucket list to dress up for this carnival someday. Sadly, I found out later that only residents Of San Martin Tilcajete could participate officially, not tourists. We were more than welcome to join in the singing and dancing, though.

In the midst of the music, howling, and dancing, time flew fast. I looked around and noticed that most of the other tourists had left the carnival. That left me without a way to get back to my hostel. Unwillingly, I left the all-night party. I found a group of locals lining up to get to Oaxaca city on an open truck. For 10 pesos, they left me right outside Oaxaca’s historic centre. I walked towards my hostel while replaying the events from the day as faint orange twilight turned into black. I knew then, that this experience had left a mark on my life, forever.

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Dates Of San Martín Tilcajete Carnival:

Note down the dates and bookmark this page for updates on future carnivals.

March 01, 2022 | Tuesday, 21 February 2023

How To Reach San Martín Tilcajete, Oaxaca

The easiest way to get to the village is by taking a private taxi from your hotel or hostel, which will cost about 500-600 pesos. The cheaper way is to take a colectivo from Zaragoza or flag a bus going towards Octotlan and get off at Azucena Zapoteca Restaurant. You can then walk into the town or hail a shared tuk-tuk as I did.

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