Baitoa, Dominican Republic.- Community organizations of the mountain town Baitoa, in Santiago province (north) announced the start of preparations for the yearly Patron Saint festivities, with a ride on mules, donkeys and horses around the various outlying sectors.

The organizers of the Fiesta San Ramon, headed by the Web site Baitoatv.com, said among the attractions for this year’s romp is the return of the Baitoa Burro Bash, where the townspeople show off their asses in beauty contests, races around downtown and even their mount’s ability to perform tricks.

The two-week long Fiesta, which culminates on August 31, day of San Ramon, features concerts, a mass, processions, the Patronales Queen pageant and games and contests some of which date to the mid 1800s.

“The recently formed organizing committee already has six candidates for the Pageant, and highly popular orchestras and artists will perform on the park stage, and if this weren’t enough, there’s work being done to televise the event live for our zone and the world,” Baitoatv.com said.

As part of the kickoff to begin the festival’s planning, burro, mule and horse riders took to the back roads around Baitoa, where villagers in the "caserios" and "poblados" greeted them with cheers and applause.