Global Images Contest 2007-2008

Previous  |  Next

Los Pyasos de Barva, The Clowns of Barva

WINNER 

Every year for two weeks in Costa Rica, the streets of Barva are filled with music, dance, cow bladders and los payasos. Imagine streets filled with men of all ages in dresses, masks, swinging and smacking COW BLADDERS onto innocent bystanders, while a band marches and hundreds of people dance and drink in the streets and roof tops. Why cow bladders you may ask... “It’s a tradition,” dating pre-Spanish colonization. Amidst the chaos of flying cow bladders, rain, music and dance; I connected with one clown, his feelings of jubilation for his town, his traditions and his country.

Charisse Pickron '08