Bolivian Carnival in Rome

A piece of the Andes in the heart of Rome

The Bolivian Carnival in Rome is the largest event organized by the Bolivian community in Italy and one of the most spectacular dates on the calendar of foreign community festivals in the Capital. Every year, in spring, the Municipality of Rome — in the Lazio Region — grants the parade one of its most famous settings: the axis connecting the Circus Maximus, Piazza di Porta Capena, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, and Piazzale Numa Pompilio. For an entire day, the archaeological promenade becomes an open-air stage, invaded by embroidered costumes, masks, umbrellas, cowbells, and brass bands.

The dances of the Carnaval de Oruro

The repertoire of the Roman parade draws from the Carnaval de Oruro, the great festival of the Bolivian highlands that UNESCO has inscribed among the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The fraternities parading along the Baths of Caracalla bring to Rome the same choreography passed down through generations:

• Diablada — the dance of the devils, with the famous horned masks and the symbolic duel between good and evil;
• Morenada — a slow and majestic step, heavy costumes, and matraca in hand, a memory of African slavery in the mines;
• Caporales — the most athletic and beloved by the youth, with jumps, boots, and rattles;
• Tinku — a warrior dance of Andean origin, with sharp, percussive rhythms;
• Afro-Bolivian Saya and Pujllay — the Afro-descendant roots and those of the valley farmers.

Who organizes and who parades

The event is curated by the Asociación Comunidad Boliviana Roma (ACB Roma), chaired by Fabiola Herrera, who has overseen the event continuously since 2012, together with the Federation of Bolivian Folkloric Groups in Italy and with the support of the Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in Italy and the Embassy to the Holy See. The parade features fraternities from all over the peninsula and beyond: Roman groups, delegations from Genoa, Bergamo, and other Italian cities, as well as international branches. Each edition has its folklore authorities — the Carnival Queen, the Princess, the Lady, and the Mister of Folklore — who lead the parade.

What atmosphere to expect

This is not a grandstand carnival: you walk along with the parade, stop where the band starts playing, and eat salteñas and other Andean specialties at the stalls accompanying the day. The audience is mixed — Bolivian families, curious Romans, tourists coming down from the Palatine Hill — and admission is completely free. The streets involved are progressively closed as participants pass, so it is advisable to arrive on foot or by public transport.

Why it is worth a visit

Bolivia is one of the most deeply rooted foreign communities in Rome, and this parade is its moment of greatest visibility: a festival of integration rather than a simple folkloric exhibition. Seeing the Diablada dance in front of the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, with the red, yellow, and green colors of the Bolivian flag blending with the Roman travertine, is an image that alone is worth the morning. For those who have never been to South America, it is also the most direct way to understand what the Andean carnival really is: not a tourist parade, but a community ritual that here, thousands of kilometers from Oruro, continues to be celebrated with the same seriousness.