This is the paper mache festival mask I bought in Ponce and carried home on the plane! I found some information about these masks at at a neat web site, "Welcome to Puerto Rico."

Perhaps the most popular of all Puerto Rican crafts are the frightening caretas-papier-maché masks worn at island carnivals. Tangles of menacing horns, fang-toothed leering expression, and bulging eyes of these half-demon, half-animal creations send children running screaming to their parents. At carnival time, they are worn by costumed revelers called vejigantes. Vejigantes often wear bat-winged jump-suits and roam the streets either individually or in groups.

The origins of these masks and carnivals may go back to medieval Spain and/or tribal Africa. A processional tradition in Spain, dating from the early 17th century, was intended to terrify sinners with marching devils in the hope that they would return to church. Cervantes described it briefly in Don Quijote. Puerto Rico blended this Spanish procession with the marked tradition brought by slaves from Africa. Some historians believe that the Taínos also were accomplished mask makers, which would make this a very ancient tradition indeed.

The predominant mask colors, at least traditionally, were black, red and yellow, all symbols of hellfire and damnation. Today, pastels are more likely used. Each vejigante sports at least two or tree horns, although some masks may have hundreds of horns in all shapes and sizes. A carnival is held in Loiza each year, where vejigantes are the main attraction, there are 4 main costumed characters: el Caballero (the knight), los vejigantes, los viejos, (the elders), and las locas (the crazy women).

Mask making in Ponce, the major center for this craft, and in Loíza Aldea, a palm-fringed town on the island's northeastern coast, has since led to a renaissance of Puerto Rican folk art.

You can purchase these masks year-round at various places, even in the homes of the mask makers, providing that you have their addresses. Although many masks are extremely elaborate and expensive, they typically range in price from $10 to $75. The premier store selling these masks is Puerto Rican Art and Crafts, 204 Fortaleza Street, in Old San Juan. Masks can be seen in action at the three big masquerade carnivals on the island: the Ponce Festival in February, the Festival of Loíza Aldea in July, and the Día de las Mascaras at Hatillo in December.

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