Bolas de Fuego

December 7th was Quema del Diablo (Burning of the Devil) in Guatemala during which Guatemaltecos throw their trash and other unwanted items out in the street and set them on fire to burn the devil out of their homes.

In conjunction with the celebration, Tactiqueños have their own special cultural tradition called Bolas de Fuego (Balls of Fire) on December 8th. The bolas de fuego event basically consists of young men in town throwing and kicking fireballs at each other. And, yes, it is as crazy and dangerous as it sounds.

In past years both the municipal building and the police station have been set on fire during the bolas de fuego, so as a precautionary measure for this year, truckloads of extra police officers were brought in all armed with guns to shoot canisters of tear gas. They formed a protective barrier around the police station and the hoards of townspeople who showed up to watch the event.

With all the problems in the past, every year there is always some speculation as to whether the bolas will actually take place. Amid rumors that the powers that be were not going to allow the event to happen last year, I went to Antigua for my birthday and missed it. I was determined not to miss it again this year.

Dressed in an old pair of jeans, old shoes, and a hooded sweatshirt, I went to the town square at about 8:15 pm. In the evenings, the center of Tactic is usually bustling with people eating at the numerous food stands, hanging out in the park, and waiting for buses. But this night the center was eerily empty and quiet. Save for a couple of brave vendors and about a dozen loitering youths, everyone else had cleared out. It was the calm before the storm.

The calm was abruptly broken when screaming men throwing fireballs entered the center from all corners. Seemingly instantly a group of about 50 men and boys formed to “play” with the fireballs and the onlookers gathered a distance away near the police station to watch.

Perhaps against better judgment (the other volunteer who was with me ran to “safety” the moment the men stormed the center), I stayed right in the middle of the action to film it. I have never been in combat (and never will be), but the experience of being bombarded from all sides with fireballs is the closest approximation I will have of being in a war zone. It was sheer madness and mayhem. Balls of fire were flying in and from all directions—from the tops of buildings and every corner of the center.

The men construct the fireballs using trapo (rags) soaked in gasoline wrapped up with alambre (metal wire) to hold them to together. Some of the bolas had an extra piece of alambre so that they could be swung and thrown more easily. At any given time (the event lasted until after midnight, but I only stayed for about an hour and a half), there would be around five balls in play. When these burnt out, more men would come running in swinging others or they would light new ones off the burning remains of the old fireballs.

Despite the appearance of complete chaos, there was actually some order to the event (as much “order” as can be expected when playing with fireballs). When a ball had lost its form and was therefore “too dangerous,” it was taken out of play and put out. There would be shouts of, “¡Ya no, muchá! ¡Solamente queda trapo!” and someone would carry it to a pool of water.

I knew or at least recognized a majority of the men who were participating, and I imagine most of them recognized me. So even though I was right in the middle of the war zone and got hit numerous times in the legs, arms, and back with errant fireballs, I was not specifically a target. The one time I was hit in the back on purpose, for my protection a man yelled, “¡No muchá! ¡No le peguen la seño!” at the perpetrators. And anytime I kicked a fireball just to get it away from me, a boisterous cheer would rise from the crowd.

Others who did not have my gringa force field of protection were not so lucky. I saw a handful of guys catch on fire, some got hit in the face with flaming balls, and even those who were not actively participating would get pulled into the fray when someone would throw or kick a fireball in their direction. There was no truly safe place within viewing distance of the action.

I have never seen anything like the bolas de fuego before in my life. While I was filming, every once and a while a guy would ask me, “Do they do this in the United States?” My response was always, “No, there is nothing like this in the United States. This would be completely illegal there.”

“Sí, pues. ¿Somos locos, verdad?”

“Claro.”