In colonial society, playful activities were developed with which the moral order and social hierarchy was transgressed. They even went to far as to make fun of gender roles, with men dressing and acting as women, and vice-versa. In the permissive space of patron saint-day festivities, blacks and whites sat at the same table, as equals, to play games and gamble. There was no lack of insinuating and erotic dances which aroused the libido, many of which the Church condemned. Masks and costumes hid peoples’ true identities, making this a prime occasion to carry out practical jokes on friends and rivals. There were also competitions on horseback in which cheating and dirty tactics were not unknown. This article demonstrates that, in the colonial period, the playful spirit was not absent, as is often imagined.