Men wearing enormous masks of diabolical characters dance and whip the air to terrorize those present. The celebration is held on Ash Wednesday by “Afro-colonials” — the descendants of African slaves brought to Panama during Spanish colonialization. Yodailis Catuy was chosen as this year’s congo queen and was honoured by the recognition. “Congo is kind of a mockery and women and men do it.”The celebration starts before noon, when men and women party through the streets to the rhythm of drums and singing. It’s called going to “Witch Mountain,” even though there is no mountain and the celebration just takes place in town.

Source: National Post March 07, 2019 22:52 UTC