A man dressed in traditional Perchten costume and mask performs during a Perchten festival in the western Austrian village of Heitwerwang, 56 miles west of Innsbruck. Each year in November and January, people in the western Austria regions dress up in Perchten (also known in some regions as Krampus or Tuifl) costumes and parade through the streets to perform a 1,500-year-old pagan ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. Each handmade traditional costume, consisting of as many as 14 sheep or goat skins, takes 3 dressmakers one day to produce. Some 15 hours are needed for a woodcarver to sculpt each demon mask, which is made from stone pine wood with goat horns. |
