Men in devilish yellow-and-red jumpsuits leaping over tiny, supine babies? If you're in the Spanish village of Castrillo de Murcia this Sunday, you can see this happen live.
Baby-jumping is the main event of El Colacho, an annual festival that takes place in Castrillo de Murcia following the religious feast of Corpus Christi. Town mothers can volunteer infants born in the previous year, putting their trust in the athletic abilities of men masquerading as devils. As the devils leap over them, the babies are swiftly absolved of their original sin.
The devil-men, sometimes sporting masks and carrying whips, menace curious onlookers and then proceed to hurdle over mattresses holding bright-eyed babes, who are generally napping or crying in terror.
It’s unclear when or how exactly the baby jumping began, but the tradition is about four centuries old. If you've been searching for a trust-building community exercise, this may just be it.
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