Mexico City, Mexico - The streets of the capital city burst with sound and color as hundreds of clowns made their annual pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady Guadalupe in Mexico City on Wednesday to pay homage to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Dressed in colorful costumes, clowns from all over Mexico walked towards the Basilica to attend a mass in honor of the saint.

"To give thanks to the Virgin (of Guadalupe) for everything, for all the work given to us daily as well as the gift of being a clown," said clown Garbancito (Little Garbanzo.)

As members of the Clown Club of Mexico, the performers have been making the pilgrimage for over 30 years to ask the Virgin of Guadalupe to continue to watch over their members and their families.

With all the problems in Mexico and the crippling poverty rates afflicting all of Latin America, it is sometimes hard to lighten the mood, said clown Loredana Malagon.

"Is it difficult being a clown? No, but making people laugh is a little complicated because everyone is tied up, but it is gratifying. It's beautiful to make people laugh, it fills you, it fills your heart. I don't know how to explain it but when a child laughs, when a person who was sad laughs, it fills you," said Malagon.

After dancing and singing through the streets, the clowns arrived at the iconic Mexican Basilica to attend a mass.

The Virgin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico and is revered by millions of Roman Catholic faithful. It is believed that the pilgrimage started from a legend of a brown skinned Virgin of Guadalupe in December 1531 by Mexican Juan Diego.