Bulls, fireworks and dancing to celebrate St. Anne
Nandaime puts on a big show for two weeks every year to honor its patron saint, Santa Ana, or Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.
The "El Cartel" is an unusual feature of the celebration, where the boys and men of Nandaime show up wearing women's clothes and makeup. This year, at least one young woman came as a man, complete with tie, hat and painted-on beard.
During Santa Ana, men careen through town with cardboard bulls popping and flashing with fireworks during celebrations to give thanks to Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.
Residents say the cross-dressing tradition originated with a resident who sponsored the first "El Cartel" years ago to offer music and dancing to thank Saint Anne for healing his seriously ill wife. Some of the people hired for the party offered to dress as a woman in honor of the healed woman.
"I do it because my grandmother Mary asked me to, because she cannot get out. She's sick with cancer and cannot dance to Santa Ana," Larios said.
People thanked the saint for answered prayers by pinning pendants of body parts, animals and other things on her robe.