Ch'utillos Festival in Potosí, Bolivia

Every year, one of the most beautiful festivals in Bolivia takes place in Potosi. It is an ancient Spanish tradition that celebrates the triumph of good over evil. If originally this date celebrates a religious festival, over the years this festival has become an opportunity to show all the richness of the folklore of the indigenous culture.

During the first century of silver in Potosí (the sixteenth), the devil is said to have left the mine for the lower part of the city, in order to get a taste of the French-style lifestyle of the Potosínos libertines. The parish priests, already appalled that the thirty-three churches were not enough to keep the Catholic herd together, and overwhelmed by hundreds of gambling houses, brothels and cockfighting venues, organised a monster procession to chase Satan away. The procession was placed under the patronage of Saint Bartholomew (San Bartolomé), the only saint available at the time, the others being already busy alleviating the suffering of the miners.. Saint Bartholomew succeeded in having the devil crushed(ch'utar in Quechua) in one of the hills to the south of the city, where a greenish stain still testifies to it today, but some historians affirm that this cult of the "devil in the canyon" was already present well before the arrival of the Spaniards...

Our advice to take full advantage of this extraordinary festival is to go the day before, when the atmosphere of the city begins to warm up.

The day before the big day, truckloads of peasants from the Norte Potosi arrive, some of whom practice the tradition of Tinku, a fighting sport that the Aymaras used to practice, which can be compared to a form of boxing or judo. On the first day (the 24th), the ch'utillos (dancers) take over the city with some of the most colorful performances in the country. M'acha, Manquiri, Llallagua, all the communities of the region flock to the festival, dressed in their richest finery and wearing their graceful hats. However, all this splendor should not make you forget that their average income is modest. The Potosínos, like the vast majority of Bolivians, have learned to perpetuate their sumptuous culture with very little money.