Desfiles des Llamadas - All Drums, No Pipes

 Crowds gathered for the Parade of the Calls Saturday night near downtown Montevideo.  The parade was supposed to take place on Friday, but was rained out.  We were lucky enough to be on a rooftop on the parade route - food and drink included.  This parade has been split up into two nights because there are so many drumming groups that want to take part.  We went to the second half.  It was awesome.

The group from Maldonado, near Punta del Este, had a representation of a famous piece of architecture in Uruguay.  An artist has a work in progress on the coast.  It's an all white house with no right angles and is constantly being added to. 

La Melaza is the only all woman candombe (drumming) group in Uruguay.  This is a picture of them.  Most of the groups have no women whatsoever.  You can also see the crowds encroaching on the street.  There are no real barricades and policing, yet the parade goes through.

Like Brazil, Uruguay has its share of scantily-clad dancers in its parades.

Sponsors for the groups and the groups themselves have huge flags that they wave over the crowds lining the streets.

Yet more dancers.  Even though this is technically an Uruguayan black history parade, most of the participants aren't.  On the other hand, they all have a good time.

And here you see the very first group we saw.  Yes, their hats are sunflowers.  The sound from these candombe groups can be heard blocks away as they march up the street.  When they're right in front of you, it's a wall of sound.

If y'all want to see more pictures of this, comment.  I have more that I'd love to use, but I don't want to overwhelm you!  Oh, and we're going to at least two more Carnaval events this week, so expect more pictures...