Peru Festivals and Events Calendar

Peru is a country rich in traditional festivals and colourful events. Plan your Peru vacation to coincide with one of these and you will be treated to a visual symphony of colour and/or energetic traditional dancing in the streets and/or delicious morsels of native cuisine and/or humbling displays of religious fervour. The choice is yours!

 

JANUARY

Fiesta de la Santa Tierra (Festival of the Sacred Land), Lake Titicaca.

3rd Thursday in January  Many tourists take a two-day tour on Lake Titicaca, spending the night on the beautiful Isla Amantaní. If you time your visit right, you may see how the island population splits in two, with one half at the Temple of Pachamama (representing Mother Earth) and the other half at the Temple of Pachatata (representing Father Earth), to pay homage to the bounty of the earth.

Marinera Dance Festival and Contest, in Trujillo
Last week in January  The marinera, a flirtatious traditional dance of seduction (see photo, left), originated in Trujillo but this festival sees competitors flock from all over Peru to take part. As well as the colourful dance competitions, there are parades throughout the city and dancing in the Plaza de Armas.

FEBRUARY

Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria (Festival of the Virgin of Candelaria), Puno

First two weeks in February  The Virgin of Candelaria is Puno’s patron saint and, every February, the city comes alive to honour her with a huge, brilliant, flamboyant festival of traditional dancing. The costumes are dazzling, the musicians rambunctious, and the dancers tireless.

Festival Carnavalesco or Carnaval (Carnival), throughout Peru

Begins 40 days before Easter Sunday, so dates change each year  Everyone has heard of Rio’s famous Carnaval, but the action gets pretty lively in Peru as well, with Cusco, Puno and Cajamarca all fun places to be. The festival gets underway with the “Day of Compadres", featuring flowers, paint and water, as well as colourful parades of dancers. Expect to get drenched by water bombs so buy a can or two of spray foam or silly string and join in the fun!

There is also a traditional aspect to the festivities, a local ritual called the yunsada or yunza, where locals dance around a tree adorned with gifts, before it is ritually cut down. Although this is more common in outlying areas, it can be witnessed in the suburbs of cities like Cusco. And, on the eighth day after Carnival, the octavo, another, even larger procession of dancers is held in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas.

MARCH / APRIL

Festival Internacional de la Vendimia (La Vendimia International Wine Festival), Ica
Second week of March  Grapes are grown in the region around Ica – famous for its wine and pisco brandy - so what better reason to have a festival that the grape harvest. Locals celebrate with a parade of colourfully decorated floats, beauty contests, a fair, music festivals and, of course, a plentitude of food and drink.

Senor de los Temblores (Lord of the Earthquakes), Cusco

Monday before Easter, so date changes each year  You may be aware that much of Peru is prone to earthquakes. In 1650, a massive quake hit Cusco and the legend goes that the tremors stopped when a painting of Christ was carried around the Plaza de Armas. This miracle is commemorated each year with a solemn procession of an image of the Lord of Earthquakes and the faithful of Cusco.

Semana Santa (Holy week – Easter week), throughout Peru but particularly in Ayacucho and Cusco

Dates change each year  Easter is a global Christian celebration, of course, and, in Peru, the celebrations are a curious mix of the international and the traditional, though events show the strong influence of the Spanish colonial era. On Good Friday, unlike the traditional fasting, family and friends gather for a feast of twelve special dishes, twelve for the Twelve Apostles.

In Ayacucho, a city famous for its 33 churches but a rather long bus journey from Cusco, the celebrations are particularly reverential and last for over a week. Ayacucho is internationally acclaimed for its Easter ceremonies, for the devotional processions of effigies of Christ and the Virgin Mother, covered with thousands of lit candles, and for the piety of its people.

APRIL

Peruvian Paso Horse Festival, Pachacámac, near Lima

15 to 20 April  The Peruvian Paso horses are special, quite small but very elegant because their gait is that of a pacer not a galloper. This festival celebrates Peru’s special breed with national competitions in rider-controlled and hand-guided movement. Their grace is complemented by the elegance of their riders and handlers, dressed in flowing ponchos and broad-brimmed sombreros.

MAY

Virgen de Chapi Festival (Virgin of Chapi Festival), near Arequipa
1 May  Although the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Chapi is located about 45 kilometres from Arequipa, many devout Catholics from throughout Peru undertake a religious pilgrimage to the Sanctuary on foot as a sign of their reverence and devotion. The faithful often walk through the night, carrying beautiful handmade candles to light their way and leave at the shrine. The following day, a replica of the Virgin is processed, and then the faithful celebrate with traditional music and dancing, feasting and fireworks.

Fiesta de las Cruces (Festival of the Crosses), Cusco, Lima and Ica

2 to 4 May  This religious festival is celebrated in much of Spain and Hispanic America but, in Peru, indigenous traditions have been assimilated into the Catholic practices. On 2 May, the Day of the Descent, small, portable crosses are taken down from the hills and sanctuaries to the houses of mayordomos, the people who are willing to pay for the festivities and new 'clothes' for the Cross. The people feast and enjoy live music until the following morning, when the Cross is dressed in new fineries (see photo, right) and taken to a special mass. On the third day, 4 May, called the kacharpari, a farewell mass is held, after which the cross is returned to its normal resting place and more feasting and partying takes place.

Festival Internacional del Cerveza Cusqueña (Cusqueña Beer Festival), Cusco

May / June (dates change)  Cusqueña is the local beer of Cusco and every year, in May or June, the brewery sponsors a 3-day international music festival in Cusco. The festival attracts musicians and young people from all over Peru, and often features international artists as well.

MAY / JUNE

Señor de Colloritty/Qoyllor Riti (Lord of Qoyllor Riti), near Cusco
Approximately one week before Corpus Christi  As many as 10,000 pilgrims take part in this annual event, climbing to the snowline on Mount Ausangate to worship the Apus, the spirits that the indigenous people believe dwell in the mountains. The pilgrimage is a curious mix of traditional and Catholic ceremonies, with performers in costumes representing mythical creatures dancing in veneration of the mountain gods, and some of the more intrepid locals climbing to the mountain’s summit to bring back blocks of ice, to be used as holy water for purification in Catholic ceremonies.

JUNE

Corpus Christi, Cusco

9th Thursday after Easter  The Corpus Christi celebrations in Cusco are a complex blend of Catholic ceremony and Inca tradition, celebrated 60 days after the resurrection of Easter Sunday but also coinciding with the high point of the Inca ceremonial calendar, when crops are being harvested and ceremonies are held to honour the Sun gods and Inca ancestors for their bounty. The Spanish assimilated the Inca tradition of parading the mummified bodies of their ancestors into their Catholic Corpus Christi ceremony, in which fifteen saints and virgins from various parishes in and around the city are paraded through the streets.

Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun), Cusco

24 June (and celebrations throughout the preceding week)  This hugely popular, world-famous event is the highlight of the year in Cusco. The festivities re-enact the Inca rites of the winter solstice, starting with early morning ceremonies at the Qorikancha Temple of the Sun, followed by a procession to the Plaza de Armas for further ceremonies, then a full afternoon of rites and dancing at the nearby Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman. Inti Raymi is the culmination of a week of exuberance in Cusco, with daily displays of traditional dancers in vibrant costumes in the central city.

Fiesta de San Pedro y San Pablo (Feast of Saints Peter and Paul), throughout Peru

29 June  Although this saints’ day is celebrated with parades throughout Peru, the major celebrations take place near Lima and Chiclayo as these are the patron saints of fishermen and farmers.

JULY

Virgen del Carmen (Virgin of Carmen), throughout Peru but particularly in Paucartambo and Pisac

15 to 18 July  The Virgen del Carmen, the patron saint of the mestizo population, is honoured and celebrated with four days of celebration in the towns of Paucartambo and Pisac, near Cusco. As with most Peruvian celebrations, there are traditional performances by dancers dressed in the most amazing psychedelic costumes, parades through the streets, copious amounts of alcohol and food are consumed, and the loud booms of fireworks fill the night air.

Fiestas Patrias (Peru’s Independence Day), throughout Peru

28 & 29 July  Peru’s independence from Spain in 1821 is marked throughout the country by official parades, followed by much merrymaking in the form of parties in homes and restaurants, as well as entertainments like cockfighting, bullfighting and even Peruvian Paso horse exhibitions in some towns.

AUGUST

Andean New Year, Cusco

1 August  August is the month dedicated to Pachamama, the Earth Mother. Homage is paid to Pachamama throughout the month, in the form of private offerings of food, drink and some precious items. The most obvious sign that the Andean New Year has begun is the sight of the yellow confetti that is sprinkled around the outside of people’s homes and properties.

Fiesta de Santiago (Festival of St James), Isla Taquile on Lake Titicaca.

25 July and 1 & 2 August  If you happen to be on the island of Taquile on these dates, you will be treated to vibrant displays of dancing in honour of St James.

Fiesta de Santa Rosa de Lima (Festival of Saint Rose of Lima), throughout Peru but particularly in Lima

30 August  As Saint Rose is the patron of the police and armed forces, their personnel take part in solemn processions to honour their patron. The major celebration takes place in the Plaza de Armas in Lima.

SEPTEMBER

Fiesta de la Virgen de Natividad (Festival of the Virgin of the Nativity), throughout the Cusco region but particularly in Chinchero

8 September  The Virgin of the Nativity’s special day is celebrated by her devotees carrying her statue through the streets, accompanied by flamboyant dancers and cacophonous musicians. The evening is a haze of eating, drinking and making merry. The most dazzling festivities take place in the small rural town of Chinchero, near Cusco.

Senor de Huanca (Lord of Huanca), near Cusco

14 September  Although the 14th is the main day, the celebrations at the Sanctuary of the Lord of Huanca (right) last a full week and include an overnight pilgrimage from Cusco, daily masses, self-purification by the faithful in the waters of the spring behind the Sanctuary, and a huge fair where stallholders sell all manner of religious paraphernalia.

International Spring Festival, Trujillo
Last week in September  Celebrate the coming of Spring with parades of decorated floats, displays of marinera dancing, and dancing in the streets, in the colourful city of Trujillo.

OCTOBER

El Señor de los Milagros (Lord of the Miracles), Lima

18 October  To celebrate an image of Christ that survived the devastating 1746 earthquake and many subsequent disasters, both natural and man-made, many thousands of devotees, all dressed in purple, form the largest procession in South America, and parade the depiction of Christ through the streets of Lima for almost 24 hours.

Fiesta del Señor de Luren (Lord of Luren Festival), Ica

3rd week in October

As with most other religious celebrations, the wooden image of the crucified Christ of Luren is carried in procession through the city of Ica, in this case from dusk till dawn of the following day. The celebration dates from 1570, when the image was lost while being transported from Lima to Ica, only to reappear in mysterious circumstances.

NOVEMBER

Todos Santos (All Saints Day) and Dia de los Muertos (All Souls Day), throughout Peru

1 & 2 November  These two days honour the saints and the dead, and are commemorated with days of prayers and Masses in churches throughout the country, as well as night-long candle-lit vigils with deceased loved ones in cemeteries. All Saints Day also involves the preparation of special food: bread is baked in the shapes of dolls and horses and taken to the cemeteries, and families feast together on pork.

Puno Week, Puno

1st week in November  Coinciding with the Day of the Dead celebrations, Puno holds a festival to celebrate the legendary Manco Cápac, the Inca who supposedly surfaced from Lake Titicaca to found the Inca empire. Thousands join a procession from the lakeside to the town stadium, where the celebration continues with music and dancing and much drinking.

DECEMBER

Fiesta de la Purisima Concepción (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), throughout Peru

8 December  The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is honoured by devotees with parades and processions, special Masses and cultural festivities, and feasts of traditional foods with family members.

Chocolatada, throughout Peru

Throughout the Christmas season

The chocolatada is an essential part of Peru’s Christmas celebrations, especially for those who are less well off, from impoverished children to poor pensioners. Churches, charitable organisations, businesses and well-off individuals give cups of hot chocolate and panatone (a type of sweet bread containing dried fruits) to the underprivileged to bring a little Christmas cheer into their lives.

Santikuraray ("the selling of the saints", an artisan’s fair), Cusco

24 December  On Christmas Eve, Cusco’s Plaza de Armas is closed to traffic and, instead, filled to bursting with stalls selling all manner of arts and crafts. Stallholders also sell all the ingredients the locals need to make nativity scenes in their homes, from wooden mangers, straw and moss to figurines of the characters who were at the birth of Christ. These nacimientos (nativity scenes) can be found in most homes and churches until 6 January, the date of la Bajada de los Reyes (the arrival of the three wise men), the traditional date for the taking down of Christmas decorations.

Andean Christmas, throughout Peru

25 December  Like Christmas around the world, this is a time to be spent eating and drinking, spending time with family and, for the religious, attending Mass in your local church.

New Year’s Eve, throughout Peru

31 December  Yellow is the luckiest colour in Peru, so it is traditional to wear yellow underwear on New Year’s Eve and to festoon your home or business with yellow-coloured decorations and flowers. As in many countries around the world, there are parties to welcome in the New Year, in homes, bars and restaurants, and people gather in the main squares to enjoy music and dancing, and to count down the hours, minutes, seconds to midnight, when deafening fireworks announce the beginning of a new year.

Inti Raymi II

I promised more about Inti Raymi in my last post … but the time came and went, and life and work got busy, so I’m only just getting back to that promise. And, in fact, I blogged about Inti Raymi last year – see here http://sconzani.blogspot.com/2011/06/inti-raymi.html – so I won’t actually write much about the event this year.

Instead, I’ll share some photos of the sacred yet profane, solemn yet noisy, almost overwhelmingly colourful event that is the modern re-enactment of the Inca mid-winter solstice celebrations here in Cusco.

The day began at what used to be the Intikancha or Temple of the Sun, but is now called Qorikancha. A large crowd of tourists and locals gathered on all available vantage points to watch the festivities.

This is the WillaqUma, the high priest of the Inca empire. His place was at the top of the only existing wall of the original Inca temple – labelled the apse in my Inti Raymi guide book. He performed various sacred rites, scattering water and food items, presumably as offerings to the gods.

These are some of the sub-priests, who were performing rituals at the foot of the apse.

The Inka (i.e. the Inca emperor) then appeared on top of the apse, to cheers and applause from the Peruvians in the crowd. After scattering seeds, he chanted the salute to the sun: ‘My sun! My father! With great joy we salute you, delighting in the solace of your great light. My sun! My father! My sun! My father! You give strength to the whole world. Sharing with us your warmth! My sun! My father!’

He then tossed his small bowl of corn to the priests stationed below the apse, who broke off kernels of that corn and gave them to the Peruvians who crowded forward to receive these sacred offerings.

This concluded the ceremonies at the Intikancha and the performers then processed to the Plaza de Armas for the next stage of the re-enactment. The company consisted of the imperial army, the Inka and Qoya (the empress, wife and sister of the Inka) and their royal entourage, chosen women and princesses, the priests, musicians of various kinds (including the qhepa – flute – trumpet players and the pututeros – conch shell blowers), and those charged with sweeping the ground and strewing flowers in the street before the Inka.

A mummy from the Qorikancha museum was also brought out for an airing, as well as various bones from other dead Inca ancestors (you could see the small exhibit numbers written on the sides of these).

Whether or not this is a faithful re-enactment of the ancient solstice celebrations is debatable but it was certainly an extremely colourful procession.

Members of the imperial army

One of the army leaders rallying his troops

Qhepa players

A pututero, a player of the large trumpet-sounding conch shells

The man who played the Inka was a splendid performer - good looking, with a proud stance and noble bearing.

Members of another cohort of the imperial guard

Inti Raymi

‘This day is the great celebration. We must all rejoice. Our hearts come alive with joy, inspired by a pure air. Oh my sun! Oh my sun! Shine on us now, oh my sun! Oh my sun! Oh my sun! Send us now your warmth and let the chill disappear. Oh my sun! Oh my sun!

So sing all the performers in this re-enactment of the Inca mid-winter solstice celebration, immediately after the sun appears over the horizon – well, that’s when they’re supposed to sing it but, these days, this part of the ceremony actually takes place at about 2pm.

Every 24 June since 1944, a theatrical representation of the Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) has been held at Saqsaywaman, the Incan archaeological site 310m above Cusco. These days, it is the second largest festival in South America and attracts visitors from all over Peru, South America and the rest of the world. Today, Lynn and I and thousands of others climbed the steep streets and even steeper steps to watch the festival and welcome back the sun.

This was the culmination of a week of events and festivities in Cusco, from dancing in the streets, to parades of floats, street fairs and eating. We skipped the first parts of the day’s ceremonial events, which began with a salute to the sun by the actor playing the Inca emperor, at Qorikancha, the square in front of the Santo Domingo church which was constructed on top of the ancient Temple of the Sun. Next, the Inca emperor was carried on his replica golden throne, in a procession to the Plaza de Armas where the coca rite took place – chewing of the sacred leaves, more invocations to the sun, much vigorous dancing.

The procession then proceeded to the ancient fortress of Saqsaywaman. All the performers in the sacred rituals – the Inca emperor, the high priests, the court officials, nobles and soldiers of the imperial army – were dressed in colourful and elaborate costumes. At Saqsaywaman, in front of the huge waiting crowds, the emperor climbed to the sacred altar where all could see him. There were speeches by the emperor, the priests and representatives of the Suyos: the Snake for the world below, the Puma for life on earth, and the Condor for the upper world of the gods. There were energetic dances by the various troupes who accompanied the procession. There was much chanting, like that above, to welcome back the sun.

In a very realistic stage act, a llama was sacrificed and the high priest paraded around the sacred altar holding aloft the bloody heart in honour of Pachamama, the earth mother. Apparently, this is done to ensure the fertility of the earth which, in combination with the light and warmth from the sun, provides a bountiful crop. The priests also read the blood stains to predict the future of the Inca empire. I wonder if they foresaw the coming of the Spanish?

In the rite of the sacred fire, stacks of straw were set on fire and the celebrants danced around them to honour Tawantinsuty or the Empire of the Four Wind Directions, and in the rite of Sankhu, the emperor, his priests and officials sampled a ritual food made of maize paste and the blood of the sacrificed llama. The ceremonies finished with everyone dancing in jubilation – and those of us with numb bums and cramping leg muscles from sitting for several hours, finally able to stand up.

It was an incredibly colourful celebration. Equally interesting was the crowd, squashed together on every available piece of ground, eating the picnic lunches they had brought along or the food they bought from the various vendors constantly jostling through the crowds, chatting to family and friends. We made friends with some young Peruvians sitting next to us – 17-year-old Christopher kept trying out his English on us, and they insisted on taking photos of each other with us before we left.



It was this big!

Also interesting were the poisonous spiders! After we’d been sitting on our scrubby, dusty hillside for about 30 minutes, we noticed the girls in front of us jump up in alarm, quickly brush down their clothes, and chatter excitedly to each other while looking around the area where they’d been sitting. Eventually, they sat back down. Another 30 minutes later, I noticed a rather large spider run up the tshirt of a guy near us, over his backpack and down onto the ground again. Not long after this, the two women to my left started talking and pointing at something on the ground – presumably the spider had resurfaced. But this time, I asked the woman closest to me what it was. She replied in rapid Spanish, then, realising I didn’t understand, mimed a spider with her fingers, jabbed one finger into my leg, then slid the finger across her throat. The message was obvious – this little critter was poisonous! Luckily, he wasn’t feeling hungry today – or maybe the sun god had listened to the prayers of the emperor and his priests and brought good luck to us all!