La Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen de Paucartambo represents a much larger celebration that pours into the small town of Paucartambo, Peru, every July to honor the town’s patron saint, the Virgin Mamacha Carmen. The dancers perform contradanza line dances and wear elaborate costumes and masks. Their captain, Víctor Germán Boluarte Medina, wears a mask with an exaggerated nose, poking fun at European colonial leaders.

On the 2015 Folklife Festival’s opening day, La Fiesta performed at the first evening concert before Afro-Peruvian star Eva Ayllón.

Filmography: Brian Hart, Marisol Medina-Cadena, Gabrielle Robinson-Tillenburg, Claudia Romano
Editing: Courtney Adkisson