Santa Semana procession participants straining under weight of religious float (anda) - Antigua, Guatemala - stock photo

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is celebrated in a colorful fashion, by creating beautiful street carpets made of sand and sawdust and decorated with plants and flowers, called alfombras. On Palm Sunday, “andas” or floats with images of the Holy Virgin of Sorrow and Jesus of Nazareth, are carried on the shoulders of purple-robed devotees. The floats weigh up to 7,000 pounds with 50-100 curcuruchas or carriers bearing their weight. Funeral marching bands follow the floats, announcing themselves with sounds of slowly beating drums, clapping cymbals and deep-throated tubas. Thick incense creates a haunting, ghost-like fog. Crowds hush as the solemn procession passes by.