On Fat Tuesday, the little Oaxacan town of San Matin Tilcajete, known for its colorful and magical alebrijes, or wood carvings, hosts the pre-Lenten celebration known locally as los diablos aceitosos, the greasy devils. It’s a wild and wacky parade through town with a bride and groom wed in a mock ceremony. The bride, la novia, is always a man dressed in drag and fittingly attired in an elegant white gown. She is the mother of the devils and holds significant symbolic importance, representing motherhood, femininity, and the interaction between the sacred and the profane.

Handmade masks, people wearing or painted in black or silver, transsexual princes, and monsters of all kinds gather at the mayor's house and then head out to the streets to scream, jump, drink, and dance to the rhythm of clanging bells.

The festival is pure magic.