Mexico sends in the clowns

More than 200 clowns descended on Mexico City for the 6th annual clown convention.

Men and women in make-up and wigs from different regions around Mexico gathered in the suburb of Xochimilco to showcase their talents, swap ideas and pick up new skills.

Seminars and workshops enabled the performers to stock up on the latest and best costumes, shoes, make-up, magic tricks and wigs available in the industry.

Clowns are important in Mexican culture, with thousands popping up at traffic intersections to perform tricks to earn a few pesos.

According to the Latin-American Clown Association, there are some 10,000 professional clowns in Mexico, of whom 3,000 are women.

Referring to the drug-related violence has claimed 23,000 lives in Mexico since 2006, "Pipucho" the clown said: "People can forget about their economic problems and problems related to violence. With so much insecurity, we try to inject joy into people so that they forget a little bit about general problems for a while."