Paraguayan town celebrates vibrant Kamba Ra’anga festival with masks, fire and tradition

Altos, a town nestled in western Paraguay, lit up with color, music, and ancestral pride on Monday as residents gathered for the annual Kamba Ra’anga festival—a unique celebration blending Catholic devotion with indigenous and Afro-Paraguayan heritage.

Held in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, the festival is a dazzling display of masked dancers, fire rituals, and symbolic costumes made primarily from dried banana leaves. Among the most…