Masked revelers rally for "Karetas" festivities in Ceará

During the Holy Week that precedes Easter, masks, rattles, drums, and other musical instruments flood the streets of Jardim, a town in the Cariri area of Ceará, located 540 km away from the state capital, Fortaleza, in a tradition that is at least two centuries old. The Karetas festival is expected to draw about 500 masked revelers between Maundy Thursday (Mar. 24) and Easter Sunday (27).

The tradition dates back to a peasant celebration of the beginning of the harvest season. According to artist Luiz Lemos, who organizes the festival, it began in the nineteenth century. Folklore scholar and playwright Oswald Barroso goes further back in time and says the tradition of parading in masks originated in Portuguese and Spanish celebrations. “The karetas are enchanted nature beings that express themselves in groups turning the world upside down, doing all kinds of mischief, creating peaceful, light-hearted chaos,” he said.

“It is a festival that brightens up the town and its locals, and is meant as an occasion to bring people closer together. The fun spreads around and invites people to join in. And that's what it is for: making friends and lightening up people's hearts,” the folklorist explained.

Judas

According to Lemos, the karetas use a doll, the “Ol' Father” (Pai véi), which represents Judas Iscariot. Traditionally made of wood, straw, and calabash, it now has plaster hands, feet, and head, and is made to look like some prominent national character that is only revealed on Friday, when the puppet parades through the streets. The festivity also has a theme. This year, participants will warn locals against Zika virus.

Participants at Karetas festival wear elaborate masks, which are awarded prizes in a contest on Easter Sunday. Lemos said that many people wear rubber masks, but cardboard and papier-mâché are more traditional materials, so the Karetas Cultural Association holds mask-crafting workshops for locals.

Barroso believes the Karetas tradition tends to survive and grow stronger. “This is the kind of tradition that will live on as part of the collective unconscious. Now it's getting ever more important, ahead of a new civilizing process that will restore human relationship with nature.”

Translated by Mayra Borges