The festival, also called the dance, begins the night of December 30. Around 9 pm, the diablos, played by local males ages 14 or older, assemble in a clearing in the mountains near the town of Boruca. This location is said to be the birthplace of the diablos. There, they organize themselves and wait for the signal of the "Diablo Mayor," or elder devil. The Mayor is typically an older male in the community that has participated in the festival for many years. The Mayor directs the festival proceedings. Carrying his conch, he instructs the other diablos where to dance and how long to remain at each location. At midnight on the night of the 30th, which soon becomes the morning of the 31st, the Mayor blows his conch to signal to the diablos the beginning of the celebration. To notify the rest of the town, the church bells ring to the tune of the funerary song, marking the death the year. At the commencement of the festival, the diablos stream down the hill and dance to the central square, where they celebrate together until the early morning hours. The dance of involves jumping and connecting back to back in order to raise a fellow diablo off the ground. The tune of the dance is set by one drum accompanied by a flute. Unlike the role of the Mayor, the role of the drummer and flautist is exchanged between many different men in the community. Around 2 am on the 31st, the celebration pauses and is set to resume later in the morning.