What is the Oruro Carnival in Bolivia?

The Oruro Carnival is a massive UNESCO-recognised religious and cultural festival in Bolivia. It blends Catholic traditions with older Andean pagan rituals in a kind of living way.

It happens every year just before Ash Wednesday, and honestly, the centrepiece is the traditional Diablada, Dance of the Devils. Tens of thousands of extravagantly dressed dancers and musicians parade through the high-altitude mining city for days. They do all this to honour the Virgin of the Socavón and Pachamama, Mother Earth, and it feels like a long communal ritual, more than a simple show.