UNESCO proclaimed Oruro Carnival a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on May 18, 2001.
The proclamation recognized a festival shaped by Indigenous Andean traditions and Catholic practices. Its central procession honors the Virgin of the Tunnel, while dancers and musicians perform styles such as the diablada, whose masked devils are among the carnival’s best-known figures.
Oruro was historically an important mining center and was built near an ancient sacred site associated with the Uru people. Over time, pre-Columbian ritual traditions were incorporated into celebrations connected with the Catholic calendar, creating the layered cultural identity UNESCO recognized.
A common mix-up concerns 2008: that was the year the festival was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity after the earlier masterpiece proclamation was transferred into the newer system established by the 2003 Convention.