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...
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...
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...
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,”...
An extraordinary mass pilgrimage deep in the Andes combining Incan glacier worship with Catholic elements (Vera Delgado & Vincent, 2013). Tens of thousands of indigenous dancers (Ukukus) climb to the...
One of Cusco’s most spectacular visual events. Fifteen saints and virgins from different neighborhood parishes are carried in massive, beautifully adorned structural litters to the Cusco Cathedral. The main square...
June is Cusco's Jubilee Month. Throughout these two weeks, daily massive folklore parades take over the historic center. School children, university students, and local institutions perform synchronized traditional dances in...
The absolute highlight of Cusco's calendar. Inti Raymi is the ancient Incan winter solstice ceremony honoring the Sun God. The theatrical re-enactment spans three historic stages: beginning at Qorikancha (Temple...