Tha Masks of Lazarim

Historically, during the six weeks of Lent, people were expected to be well-behaved, which meant no dancing, no late night craziness and most certainly no meats, dairy, or sugar-laden sweets. But with so many goodies around the house, it is almost impossible to “follow the rules”. So, Careto, or Carnaval, time exists when people eat and drink to their hearts’ content, and behave not so well. Get it out of your system. And then when Lent comes, behaviours are supposed to change in preparation for Easter.

Some people believe that the roots of Carnaval go back to pre-Christian times. In Lazarim, those ancient traditions still exist and some of the most unique celebrations in the country happen in the next few weeks. Careto is one of the oldest traditions that’s still being practiced in Portugal. It’s a pre-Roman, Celtic ritual. Lazarim isn’t the only village in Portugal with ancient carnival traditions, scary masks and colourful costumes. Inside the Iberian Mask Centre, we saw a map of a handful of other regions and villages that have similar festivities along with examples of their costumes. Each village has traditions and costumes that are old and unique.

The hand-carved, wooden masks that we saw are works of art. A few days a month, workshops are offered that show participants how to make one of these masks. The wood used is alder that grows abundantly in the valley around Lazarim. In the old days, masks were made of lace that covered the face.

Since all of the information at the centre was written in Portuguese, I had to look up the word careto and found a little info that explained the rituals using the masks.

During Careto, young costumed men take advantage of their anonymity to play tricks on the rest of the townsfolk and indulge in mischievous behavior, free from the fear of public censure and punishment. It sounds like they go crazy - walk into houses, bump people, hug girls and chase people.

On Shrove Tuesday, all the caretos gather and parade through the village, accompanied by a marching drum band. They are closely followed by the comadre (godmother) and compadre (godfather), two young single people whose job is to publicly humiliating their peers by reading out a list of humorous and risqué acts their single friends got up to in the previous year, usually found on Facebook.

Once all the embarrassing “facts” have been shared, the community gather to partake in a bean and meat stew that’s been simmering away in cauldrons around a bonfire in a neighboring square.

Mask-makers spend countless hours transforming a section of solid tree trunk (alder) into a wondrous disguise. Each tries to outdo their peers with imaginative designs. The masks are amazing but they must weigh a ton and be really hard work to wear.

While most of Lazarim’s masks are made of unpainted wood, the costumes are more varied. Some are fashioned from old clothes, burlap, woven grasses, cane or scraps of fabric.

The young lady taking care of the centre said that during the week, school children come in for field trips to learn about mask-making. When we were there, we were the only people there and it didn’t cost anything to enter the centre.もっと詳しく