Festival fireworks in Oaxaca are usually 3-part affairs, consisting of toritos (little bulls) and/or canastas (baskets) wired with fireworks and worn on top of the head by daring-do guys (toritos) and gals (canastas). This is followed by a castillo (castle) and then the more familiar rockets-exploding-in-the-sky fireworks most of us have craned our necks and oooh-ed and ahhh-ed over since childhood. Sometimes the order of the latter two is reversed.
The subject of today’s blog post is the castillo that was constructed and executed this past Saturday by “los maestros pirotécnicos los C. Rigoberto y Dagoberto Morales” for the festival in honor of the Santisima Virgen del Rosario (Sainted Virgin of the Rosary) in Teotitlán del Valle. They and their crew went about the business of constructing and wiring this “Erector Set” type castillo out of wood and carrizo in the church courtyard.
I couldn’t resist playing with the saturation on this photo. In my mind’s eye, this is the way it looked.
And, de-saturating this one against the backdrop of El Picacho, the sacred mountain that watches over the village.
The result of the work by these maestros and their crew? A spectacular castillo, accompanied by the band, Herencia Musical. It was quite a show!!!
And, if you want to see some inside action from a torito, check out the video Chris made, Torito Danza – Dancing with Fireworks. He actually attached a POV (Point of View) camera to the torito!!!
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 
This was almost like being there – and Chris’s perspective was quite unusual!
Chris is having great fun with his POV (GoPro type) cameras. He’s also attached them to the Danza de la Pluma dancers, with dizzying results.
Wowza, what a beautiful display!
Up close and personal: So dangerous and so much fun!!!