Is the diablada from Peru or Bolivia?

Catholic and Andean, without asking permission

The festival mixes the Catholic and the Andean without asking permission of either. UNESCO, which inscribed it in 2014, describes a main festival that opens with an early-morning mass and an ancient purification ceremony, a procession carrying the Virgin's image through the streets with music and dancing, two contests, three regional federations of practitioners who organise it, and rehearsals and craft workshops where dance, music and mask-making are passed to the young.

Puno received the listing as a victory, because Bolivia maintains that the diablada is Bolivian, and the matter has reached the foreign ministries more than once. Both countries are right, in the awkward sense that the border is younger than the dance.

• UNESCO inscribed the "Festivity of Virgen de la Candelaria of Puno" on the Representative List in 2014.
• The main festival begins with an early-morning mass and an ancient purification ceremony, followed by a procession; two contests bring together several thousand dancers and musicians; three regional federations organise it, and skills are passed on in rehearsals and craft workshops.
• Bolivia maintains that the diablada is Bolivian; Peru and Bolivia have taken the dispute to their foreign ministries more than once.
• The festival mixes Catholic feast and Andean symbolism.

La fiesta mezcla lo católico y lo andino sin pedir permiso a ninguno de los dos.

The festival mixes the Catholic and the Andean without asking permission of either.

En 2014 la Unesco la declaró patrimonio cultural inmaterial de la humanidad, lo que en Puno se recibió como una victoria.

In 2014 UNESCO declared it intangible cultural heritage of humanity, which in Puno was received as a victory.

Los dos países tienen razón, en el sentido incómodo de que la frontera es más joven que el baile.

Both countries are right, in the awkward sense that the border is younger than the dance.