Black and White Festival

From January 2 to January 6 the town shuts down to have a Black and White festival. It is a really big deal here in Pasto, the people celebrate the many cultures that are here in Pasto. We went to a museum to see some of the characters that have gone through the parades. The lady that took us through could speak a little English and we actually learned a lot. The cultures that are represented here are the Indian (three different tribes), Spanish, and African. On the 5th of January everyone will celebrate the white culture with white make-up and on the 6th everyone celebrates the black culture with black make-up. The characters for the parades are all made of paper-machie, they sure beat a balloon covered with newspaper dipped into flour and water.