SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Up on the high plains of the Atacama Desert in Chile, tens of thousands of worshippers recently gathered for an annual Catholic celebration with a twist, as John Bartlett reports.
JOHN BARTLETT, BYLINE: For most of the year, La Tirana is a quiet desert town of about 400 people who walk its wide, empty streets under the baking sun.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORN SQUEAKING)
BARTLETT: But for 10 days every July, it transforms. Two-hundred thousand pilgrims pour in for Chile's largest religious festival.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BARTLETT: Worshippers bring offerings for the Virgen del Carmen, an apparition of the Virgin Mary, from all across the north of the country and neighboring Peru and Bolivia. Some walk the last few miles under the scorching sun, past dry shrubs and makeshift shrines.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BARTLETT: La Tirana is famous for its blend of Catholic worship and the indigenous spirits and customs of the high desert plains.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BARTLETT: Pilgrims arrive for the climax of the festival on 15 of July, where a wave of noise hits the new arrivals in the main square. This year, over 200 dance troupes showed off their furious whirling dances.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BARTLETT: Devils with grisly teeth protruding in different directions, their thatches of felt dreadlocks whipping behind them, dance in line with children in sequined smocks. The Jukumari, a giant, hairy white spirit from Bolivia's high plains, dances between winged angels and staff-bearing devils. Occasionally, a street dog weaves between them.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELLS JINGLING)
BARTLETT: I walk with Juan Pablo Maturana to the back of the Santuario de Nuestra Senora del Carmen church under its midnight blue dome. He leads me past the altar and down a narrow hallway to a storeroom, our ears still ringing from the music outside.
JUAN PABLO MATURANA: (Speaking Spanish).
BARTLETT: Maturana is the leader of the dancers' federation.
MATURANA: (Speaking Spanish).
BARTLETT: "For me, La Tirana is part of my cultural identity," Maturana tells me. "I've been dancing here since I was 6 years old. My year starts and ends on the 16 of July. That's how it's always been."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BARTLETT: Outside, performers dripping with sweat in the afternoon sun have removed the heads from their costumes or lifted masks to reveal streams of eye makeup running down their cheeks. As alcohol is strictly prohibited in La Tirana during the festival, young people in fur suits or band uniforms sip energy drinks.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BARTLETT: By 7:00 p.m. everyone is sucked into a whirlpool of noise where troupes and their brass bands compete to fill the square with color and sound. A hush descends before mass. Then white handkerchiefs and balloons flutter above the crowd as the bell finally tolls for midnight. In a museum beneath the church, I sit down with the priest whose heavy silver cross rests on an alpaca wool cardigan.
FRANKLIN LUZA: (Speaking Spanish).
BARTLETT: "There is a profound blend of color, music, dance and the solemnity of the Catholic liturgy," Father Luza explains to me. "The Catholic liturgy is rigid, formal and solemn. But here, it has been successfully integrated with these local elements."
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing in non-English language).
BARTLETT: The next morning is the day of the Virgen del Carmen.
After yesterday's dances, an effigy of the Virgin Mary is now swaying her way through the streets on the shoulders of the worshippers. She was brought out of a vault beneath the church yesterday for her annual outing and will be returned, surrounded by dancing and singing, later this evening.
Down every side street, my path is blocked by an effigy or marching band filing towards me, past pharmacies and mini markets named Jerusalem or Nazareth.
(CROSSTALK)
BARTLETT: As evening falls and the sunset turns the sky to the west gold, performers in the square sit exhausted on top of their drums.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND MUSIC)
BARTLETT: And for another year, with the figure of the Virgin Mary tucked safely back in the vaults, the town falls quiet once more, ready for the cycle to begin again. For NPR News, I'm John Bartlett in La Tirana, Chile.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.