Culture of Pasto

women, children of all ethnicities and background use black, white and colour cosmetics to paint each other as a symbol of communion and joy in their ethnic and cultural differences. Besides the "painting each other" game, people enthusiatically join street parades which are the main highlight of the Carnival. Parades take place on January 4th (Castaneda family arrival), 5th (Black's day) and 6th (White's day) featuring floats artcrafted by local artisans and traditional dances and bands from other villages and in some cases countries like Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Today the Black and White Carnival in Pasto attracts a considerable number of tourists from several parts of the world and became a "must see highlight" featured in the calendar of Colombian and World festivities. Joining the kind people from Pasto in their houses and streets to participate in parade floats and traditional dances is a togetherness experience that was treasured in the memories of lucky few and now is open to the world!