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Burbank’s Annual Latin Clown Convention Made Me Embrace My Inner Payasa

Every year, the collective hosts the Congreso, a multi-day gathering where clowns from across the United States and Latin America swap techniques, attend workshops, discover new products, and uplift one another, even hosting an Oscars-style awards show on the final night in one last hurrah.

9:00 AM PDT on August 5, 2026

two clowns

Tricky (left) and the “disconnected clown.” Photo by Erwin Recinos for L.A. TACO.

I arrived at 9 a.m. as Lauren. 

By 11 a.m., I was Dottie, my newly adopted clown persona.

I made it to the Latin Clowns Evolution Congreso expecting to report on a gathering of clowns. Instead, somewhere between the face paint, rainbow suspenders, and relentless warmth of the community, I became part of it.