A “night of terror” with costumes that represent characters from Nicaraguan folk legends and mythology was experienced this Friday with the “Los Agüizotes” carnival, which has been held every year since the mid-20th century in the southern city of Masaya. , In Nicaragua.
This carnival of myths and legends, known as “Los Agüizotes” and which brings together the majority of characters from the most popular ancestral horror stories in Nicaragua, takes place on the last Friday of October after midnight.
The protagonists of this festival make faces and sounds to scare the hundreds of nationals and foreigners who accompany the terrifying pilgrimage.
Between shouts and music from philharmonic bands, they give life to a carnival atmosphere nuanced with the lights of hundreds of candles and handmade lamps that are the obligatory companions in this nocturnal carnival.
Related news: They celebrate the night of “Los Agüizotes” in Nicaragua
The hundreds of ghosts that walk the avenues are people dressed in allegorical or bizarre costumes with the purpose of having fun and reliving old fear legends that are part of the popular terrifying imagery of Nicaragua.
However, characters from well-known films that have appeared on the big screen also stand out, such as “IT”, “La Monja”, the Mexican film “Coco” and “Alice in Wonderland”, among others.
Although popular representations predominate on the route, such as carts pulled by skeletal oxen and men without heads that symbolize the myths and legends that come to life every year in that city, considered the cradle of Nicaraguan folklore and that are celebrated on the occasion of the patron saint festivities. in honor of Saint Jerome.
Characters like “La Llorona”, a woman who wanders looking for her lost children, or a headless priest, a widow with a black veil, or the red devil himself, among others, are the ones that make up the idiosyncrasy of Nicaragua in that party.
Other characters that parade in the “Los Agüizotes” festivities, a kind of terrifying carnival, are the “cadejo”, “mocuana”, “cegua”, “goblins”, “taconuda”, “the Nahuatl cart”, among others.
The word Agüizote comes from Nahuatl in which Agüi means water and zote means fright, therefore, agüizotes denotes fright near water.
In this nocturnal procession, the characters from popular Nicaraguan legends wear the most original costumes and show off their grotesque masks by dozens of local artisans who work at full steam weeks before.
The party is not lacking in the puffs of fire thrown into the air by the protagonists and the coffins with their apparent deceased who wear their painted faces and their long torn dresses.
The celebration of “Los Agüizotes” is typical of the inhabitants of Masaya since 1976 and is part of the patron saint festivities of San Jerónimo, which begin with the descent of the saint in mid-September, carrying out continuous processions through all the streets of Masaya in the midst of traditional music.
