Clowns
The clowns are a part of our folk culture that finds expression at Christmas time in a festival that has been celebrated for hundreds of years. Usually one of the largest troupes with as many as fifty players, they have provided entertainment for years. The typical clown suit is a loose costume of two colours generously decorated with tiny bells which jingle as they perform their famous whip-swinging dances. The elegance and grace at which the clowns perform as they serpentine behind and between each other is a spectacle to behold. The pink wire mesh mask worn as part of the costume, hiding the face of the performer, apparently depicts the European, and is a feature of almost all the local folk dance characters. The sounds of bells and the crack of the Hunter, a leather whip carried by each performer, punctuates the rhythms of the String Band, biding closer the dancers to the musicians.