Around six months after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September of 2017, Raquel Berrios and Luis Alfredo Del Valle, founders of synth-pop outfit Buscabulla, finally answered the perpetual call to return home to their native island.

“Vámono” was the first song they wrote since moving back. Today, they’ve premiered its video, directed by Claudia Calderón and inspired by long-standing Puerto Rican traditions: the folkloric vejigante masks centric to the Carnaval de Ponce, where Del Valle is from, and the Festival de Las Mascaras in northern Hatillo where, along with nearby Arecibo, Berrios’ ancestors lived and died.

Over time, these festivals have adapted to modern culture: The Dec. 28 Masks of Hatillo Festival, dating back to 1823, is no longer a parade on horseback. Now, it’s all about wildly decorated, wheelie-popping floats soundtracked by reggaeton blasting through crowded, chaotic streets. And while many of the “gangs” showcased have updated to modern themes (e.g. SpongeBob, Smurfs), they’re still acting out the biblical tale on which the festival was founded — Innocents’ Day — by portraying the soldiers deployed by King Herod to slaughter Bethlehem’s children. – READ MORE (and peep the amazing photo gallery) VIA PAPER MAG