Ecuador Feast Diabladas Photo Gallery
A man dressed up as the devil participates in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. The feast celebrates the end of the year and star...
A man dressed up as the devil participates in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. The feast celebrates the end of the year and start the new one. The town of Pillaro kicks off the feast of the La Diablada with neighborhoods competing to bring as many people dressed as different characters. Originally the devil costume was used to open up space to allow other participants to dance, but over the years the character gained popularity and became the soul of the feast. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador Feast Diabladas Photo Gallery
Children dressed up as devils wait for the beginning of La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. The town of Pillaro kicks off the feast...
Children dressed up as devils wait for the beginning of La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. The town of Pillaro kicks off the feast of La Diablada with neighborhoods competing to bring in as many people as possible dressed as different characters. Originally the devil costume was used to open up space to allow other participants to dance, but over the years the character gained popularity and became the soul of the feast. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador Feast Diabladas Photo Gallery
A man with a devil's mask and a bottle of moonshine dances in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, to celebrate the end of the year ...
A man with a devil's mask and a bottle of moonshine dances in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, to celebrate the end of the year and the start of the new one. The town of Pillaro kicks off the Diablada with neighborhoods competing to bring in as many people as possible dressed as different characters. Originally the devil costume was used to open up space to allow other participants to dance, but over the years the character gained popularity and became the soul of the feast. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador Feast Diabladas Photo Gallery
Revelers participate in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, to celebrate the end of the year and start the new one. The town of Pil...
Revelers participate in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, to celebrate the end of the year and start the new one. The town of Pillaro kicks off the Diablada with neighborhoods competing to bring in as many people possible dressed as different characters. Originally the devil costume was used to open up space to allow other participants to dance, but over the years the character gained popularity and became the soul of the feast. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador Feast Diabladas Photo Gallery
Revelers dance in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, to celebrate the end of the year and start the new one. The town of Pillaro k...
Revelers dance in La Diablada in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, to celebrate the end of the year and start the new one. The town of Pillaro kicks off the Diablada with neighborhoods competing to bring as many people dressed as different characters. Originally the devil costume was used to open up space to allow other participants to dance, but over the years the character gained popularity and became the soul of the feast. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador Feast Diabladas Photo Gallery
Costumed revelers take cover from the rain under an umbrella as they arrive to La Diablada to celebrate the end of the year and the start of the new o...
Costumed revelers take cover from the rain under an umbrella as they arrive to La Diablada to celebrate the end of the year and the start of the new one, in Pillaro, Ecuador, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. The town kicks off the Diablada with neighborhoods competing to bring in as many people possible dressed as different characters of the feast, including the main character of the feast, The Devil. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
PILLARO, Ecuador (AP) -- Thousands of Ecuadoreans in elaborate devil masks and red costumes danced wildly in the streets of this Andean town in the "La Diablada de Pillaro," or the Devils of Pillaro festival.
Neither the rain showers nor the highland sun could stop the days of revelry in Pillaro, located 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the capital Quito, where children, men and women all joined the celebration in homemade costumes, scaring tourists and passersby.
One version says the festival, which runs from Dec. 28 to Jan. 6, began in the 1940s when the mainly farming families of Pillaro would gather at the end of the year to discuss their lives. The meetings would extend late into the night and end in tales of devils and souls in pain.
Townsfolk decided to honor the scary tales by forming dancing groups and the custom developed into La Diablada celebration of wildly dancing and howling demons.
