One week ago the Oruro Carnival Bolivia, came to an end. The carnival, a UNESCO-listed Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, is celebrated for ten days around Ash Wednesday. People from throughout Bolivia and beyond gather in the streets of Oruro for the annual carnival, one of the most widely celebrated and oldest cultural traditions in Latin America. The roughly 2,000 year old event features tens of thousands of dancers in spectacularly detailed and colorful costumes and masks accompanied by huge bands. It is a dramatic fusion of indigenous music, dances and rituals combined with Euro-Christian traditions. Read more about Bolivia's top festivals and download a free Bolivia festival calendar guide.  Oruro Carnival Bolivia Andean & Catholic Tradtions behind Oruro Carnival Carnaval de Oruro represents more than just a lively celebration, it is symbolic of the syncretism between the Catholic ideals imparted by Colonial expansion and the thousands of years old Andean rituals that are so ingrained in the region. After the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, the native celebration was transformed by the incorporation of a Catholic ritual focused on the Virgin of Candelaria, or in Bolivia a focus on the Virgin of Socavón, who is believed to watch over laborers working in the region’s many mines. Dancing troupes The numerous comparsas, or groups comprised of 1,000-strong troupes of dancers, musicians and other characters during the carnival, are focused on different aspects of life in the high Andes, such as agricultural cycles, mining, religion and other themes. La Diablada, or the devil’s dance, is one of the many distinguishing features of the carnival with colorfully costumed dancers, masked diablos, and choreographed routines intricately enacting the victory of the Archangel St. Michael over Lucifer. The dance also serves as an allegory of the Spanish conquest of the