Semana Santa (Holy Week) Cusco: Elaborate processions with ornate statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary, accompanied by incense, flowers, and Andean hymns. The Señor de los Temblores (Lord of the Earthquakes) procession on Easter Monday is iconic.
Location: Nationwide (best in Lima, Ica) Highlights: Celebrates Peru’s iconic cocktail with tastings, bar competitions, and live criollo music.
Location: Arequipa (desert shrine, 45km from the city) Highlights: Over 100,000 devotees walk barefoot through the desert to honor the Virgin. Fireworks, traditional picantería food, and yaraví music (Andean lament songs).
Locations: Nationwide (most famous in Cusco, Lima, and Huánuco) Highlights: Celebrates the Christian cross blended with Inca earth worship (Pachamama). Cusco: Neighborhoods compete with ornate crosses adorned with flowers and mirrors. Huánuco: Danza de los Negritos (dance honoring Afro-Peruvian heritage).
Location: Canas Province, Cusco Highlights: Annual rebuilding of the last Inca grass bridge using traditional techniques Community participation with offerings to Apus (mountain spirits) UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage event
Location: Sinakara Valley (Cusco), near Ocongate Highlights: One of Peru’s most sacred Andean festivals, blending Inca sun worship (Inti) with Catholicism. Thousands hike to 4,800m to honor the Señor de Qoyllur Rit’i (Christ appearing as a mountain spirit). Dancers in colorful masks (ukukus) perform rituals to bless crops.
Location: Cusco Highlights: 15 saints and virgins paraded from churches to Cusco Cathedral Traditional dishes like chiriuchu (cold spicy platter) Q'apaq Negro dance performances
Location: Amazon regions (especially Iquitos, Pucallpa, Tarapoto) Highlights: Celebrates the Amazonian winter solstice with water purification rituals Traditional dances like the pandilla and humisha (tree cutting ceremony) Feast of juanes (seasoned rice wrapped in bijao leaves)
Location: Cusco (Sacsayhuamán fortress) Highlights: The most important Inca festival, honoring the sun god Inti Spectacular reenactment of ancient Inca rituals with 500+ participants in traditional costumes Includes offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and ceremonial coca leaf readings
This is a solemn and family-oriented holiday. Families gather to remember and honor their deceased loved ones. It is customary to attend mass and visit cemeteries to clean and decorate the graves with flowers, particularly orange marigolds (cempasúchil). A unique tradition is the preparation and consumption of "Lechón" (suckling pig) and "T'anta Wawa" – bread shaped like babies or...
Religious festival that includes masses and processions in honor of the Virgin Mary.
Peru's largest folk art and traditional customs fair is held in Cusco's Plaza de Armas. Artisans from the region exhibit and sell nativity scene figures, especially the famous “Niños Manuelitos,” as well as other handicrafts, ceramics, and paintings. It is the prelude to Christmas in Cusco.