Red noses, gaudy shoes, kooky outfits, and flamboyant makeup—these are the hallmarks of clowns! Hundreds of such entertainers gathered Saturday in the streets of Peru’s capital to mark Clown Day. They have sought for years to gain official recognition of the day.
The colorful parade in Lima includes awards for the best costumes, makeup, routine, and improvisation, or improv. Professional clowns gather annually on May 25 to honor the beloved Peruvian clown José Alvarez Vélez, better known as “Tony Perejil.” He died on May 25, 1987. Tony Perejil was called “the clown of the poor” because he performed in low-income neighborhoods and donated a portion of his earnings there.
“In Peru, there is Lawyer’s Day, Ceviche Day, and we also want a Clown Day because it would open doors for us to have support from the State and from the municipalities,” says Marcos Chininín. He’s perhaps best known as the clown “Chalupa.”
Chininín says official recognition would give clowns access to government funds and performance spaces overseen by cities and local communities. It would also open the possibility of starting schools to teach the art of clowning. Such schools already exist in United States and in France.
Members of Parliament have not yet discussed a proposed bill to create the holiday. Chininín/Chalupa estimates that about 200,000 people across Peru work as clowns including at children’s events and the circus.
Miguel Ara Stein participated in Saturday’s parade. He marched dressed as his character “Chuchurro.” He says establishing the holiday would also acknowledge the talents that clowns need to have.
“You have to have the gift of acting, the gift of character, of improvising,” Ara says. “We are all born for something, and making people laugh is a gift.”
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. — Proverbs 17:22
