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Peru Festivities |
Around 3,000 folk festivals are carried
out in Peru every year. Most of them are
dedicated to a patron saint within the
Christian calendar imposed during the
Spanish Vice-regency. The celebrations
go hand-in-hand with a busy program of
activities that include mass,
processions, pilgrimages, dancing, folk
dances, arts and crafts shows,
agricultural fairs and other shows that
blend spirituality and vitality. Below
we have tried to make a selection of the
most meaningsful festivals in Peru,
chosen for their tourist popularity,
geographic reach and unique character.
Let us know about your interests and we
will design a tailor made program, that
suit your expectations.
FESTIVAL DE LA MARINERA
JANUARY 20
Trujillo (La Libertad)
The marinera is one of the most elegant
dances in Peru. The dance involves a
great deal of flirting between a couple,
who each twitch a handkerchief in their
right hand while keeping the beat during
what is fairly complex coreography.
Trujillo holds the country´s most
important marinera competition, that
draws couples from all over the country.
During the festival, the city also hosts
processions involving floats and the
whole town takes on a festive air. The
people of Trujillo gather at the main
square to dance and celebrate.
VIRGEN DE LA CANDELARIA
FEBRUARY 1-14
Puno
Dancers fill the streets of Puno,
nestled on the shores of Lake Titikaka,
for several days in February. They
perform old dances in colorful costumes.
For 18 days the highland city becomes
the Folk Capital of the Americas. The
festival gathers more than 200 groups of
musicians and dancers to celebrate the
Mamapacha Candelaria. The virgin is led
through the city in a colorful
procession. The dance of the demons or
diablada is the main dance of the
festival.
SEMANA SANTA
Second half of March - 1st week of April
Ayacucho
Easter week (Semana Santa) represents
the peak of religious sentiment for the
people of the Andes. Ayacucho is a must
during Holy Week, where Peru's largest
religious festival is held. On the
evening of Holy Friday, the lights of
the vity wink out to give way to the
Christ of Calvary. The image sets out
from Monastery of Santa Clara in a
procession through the streets on a
litter strewn with white roses,
following by grieving Virgin Mary and
lines of men and women strictly dressed
in mourning bearing lit candles. Holy
Saturday is again a day of joy when
bells toll and merry making starts. On
Easter Sunday, the procession of La
Aurora (Dawn) emerges from the Cathdral
at four in the morning, heralding the
resurrection of Christ with fireworks
and firecrackers. The litter features
thousands of white candles, is simply
magnificent.
EL SEÑOR DE LOS TEMBLORES
Second half of March - 1st week of April
Cusco
Ever since 1650, when the faithful claim
that an oil painting of Christ on the
Cross held off a devasting earthquake
that was rattling the city of Cusco, the
locals have been honoring the image of
Taitacha Temblores, the Lord of the
Earthquakes. The image used today was
donated by King Charles V and despite
centuries of smoke from candles and
incense, no one has dared to restore the
blackened painting, that given the
Christ a somber aspect and a dark
countenance. The Lord of the Earthquakes
is taken out in procession through the
streets of the city just as the Incas
used to parade the mummies of their high
priests and high rulers. This
celebration is of particular interest
because it allows onlookers to get a
glimpse of the fusion of Andean
religions and Christianity.
FERSIVAL DEL CABALLO DE PASO PERUANO
Third week in April
Lima
The Spanish horse, bred with the Arab
stallion and reared in a desert
environment, which formed ist gait, gave
rise to the Peruvian Paso horse. Over
450 years of selective breeding have
gone into developing the characteristics
that have made the Peruvian Paso Horse
one of the world´s most beautiful and
elegant breeds. With its four-beat
lateral gait, the Peruvian horse gives
its rider the smoothest ride in the
world. The most important contest takes
place in Mamacona, a tourist resort at a
walking distance from the Pachacamac
ruins (30 km south of Lima). There is
also a wonderful exhibition of these
horses.
QOYLLUR RIT'I
First week in June
Cusco - Quispicanchis
Qoyllur Rit'i means star of the snows.
It's a festival that combines masses in
a Catholic church with a solemn moonlit
trek up to a dangerous glacier, to pay
homage to the Apus, the mountain gods of
the Incas. Many are asking him for
earthly blessings, houses, jobs, cure of
an illness. Many want redress in some
personal grievance; Christ is a god of
Justice in the Andean version of
Christianity. The main ceremony is held
at the foot of Mount Ausangate, at 4,600
meters (15,090 ft), where temperatures
often plunge below freezing. The ritual
bring thousands of pilgrims It takes
place on the moveable feast of Trinity
Sunday, through the following Tuesday,
usually in late May or early June. More
than 10,000 pilgrims climb to the
snowline, accompanied by all sorts of
dancers in full costume. The ukukus or
bears, dress in wool masks and shaggy
tunics, are the guardians of the Lord
and the Apu mountain spirits, they
maintain order during religious
ceremonies. On their way back down to
their communities, pilgrims haul massive
blocks of ice on their backs for the
simbolic irrigation of their lands with
holy water from the Ausangate.
INTI RAYMI
JUNE 24
Cusco
Every year on the 24th of June Cusco
celebrates the festival of Inti Raymi,
the winter solstice, in the southern
hemisphere. Inti Raymi was the most
majestic and greatest festival of the
Inca empire to honor the sun god. Today,
the Inti Raymi evokes the splendid Inca
ritual of yore, being carefully scripted
by Cusco professors, archaeologists and
historians. For more than half a century
the festival takes place at the fortress
of Sacsayhuaman (2 km outside Cusco).
There, step by step, thousands of actors
proudly bring the past alive, giving
thanks to sun god. The Inti Raymi starts
in the square in front of the
Qorikancha,also known as the Santo
Domingo. The Sapa Inca honors, with an
eloquently strong voice, the blessings
of the Sun and this most sacred day.
After this initiation the procession
moves with imperial dignity to the
Sacsayhuaman. At the top the Inca is
carried on a royal litter. At the
fortress the high priest performed the
llama sacrifice offering a black and
white llama. With a sharp ceremonial
golden knife called " Tumi" he had to
open the animal's chest. With his hands
pulled out its throbbing heart, lungs
and viscera, so that observing those
elements he could predict the future.
Later, the animal and its parts were
completely incinerated. After the
sacrifice, the High Priest had to
produce the "Sacred Fire". Staying in
front of the Sun he had to get its rays
in a concave gold medallion that
contained some soft or oily material in
order to produce the fire that had to be
kept during next year in the Qorikancha
and Aqllawasi. Once that all ritual
stages of the Inti Raymi were finished,
all the attendants were located in the
southwestern Plaza's sector named "Kusipata"
(Plaza del Regocijo) where after being
nourished, people were entertained with
music, dances and abundant chicha.
CORPUS CHRISTI
JUNE (moveable)
Cusco
The festival of Corpus Christi has been
celebrated all over Peru since colonial
times, but reaches a high point in
Cusco. Fifteen saints and virgins from
various districts are borne in a
procession to the Cathedral where they "greet"
the body of Christ embodied in the
Sacred Host, kept in a fabulous gold
goblet weighing 26 kilos and standing
1.2 meters high. All the figures are
dress with elegant clothes, as well as
gold and silver jewellery and are always
accompanied by music bands, dancers and
fireworks. The Corpus Christi is held
between May and June, 60 days after
Easter. In the main square people raise
very big altars adorned with mirrors,
flags, flowers, tree branches, some
images, etc. In ancient times those
altars were more numerous and showy,
adorned with silver frontals, Cusquenian
school paintings, statues, etc. Near the
main square many merchants place their
typical food stands for attendants to
the "entrance", where the traditional "Chiri
Uchu" or "Cold Chili" is served; some
other stands also serve pork
"chicharrones", "anticuchos" (skewered
cow-heart), etc.; and of course,
industrial amounts of beer and chicha.
After the entrance of images into the
Cathedral, people will eat and drink at
the main square.
FIESTAS PATRIAS
JULY 28-29
Peru
On July 28 and 29 all Peru celebrates
the independence of its country. On the
night of July 27, Peruvians often stage
serenatas to the strains of folk and
Creole music in plazas (main squares)
and public parks. On the following day,
before the famous military parade is
held in downtown Lima, the Te Deum
ceremony attended by the president, is
celebrated in the Lima Cathedral. The
Feria del Hogar, the biggest commercial
fair and the Feria de La Molina, a well-known
international music festival, open
during these days. Famous national and
foreign artists are invited to
participate. In various parts of the
country, Peruvian also hold agricultural
and livestock fairs. (Cajamarca, Piura,
Monsefu)
SANTA ROSA DE LIMA
AUGUST 30
Lima & Quives (Lima)
Saint Rose of Lima was the name given to
a seventeenth-century inhabitant of
Lima. Isabel Flores de Oliva felt a
great religious vocation and dedicated
herself to being a laywoman, without
beloging to any religious order in
particular. She was to spend her life
caring for the sick and her penitence
undertaken to resist sin, as well as her
good nature earned her fame even while
she was alive. Veneration of her figure
spread not only in Peru but also to the
Philippines. Her shrine, located in
downtown Lima, is constantly visited by
pilgrims in search of miracle. On August
30, pilgrims often cast letters
detailing their needs into the wishing
well of Saint Rose. Others visit the
hermitage that the saint herself built .
Saint Rose is the patron saint of Peru.
Although her festival is celebrated
across the country, it has a special
emphasis in the town of Santa Rosa de
Quives, in the highlands of the
department of Lima, where Santa Rosa
lived.
FESTIVAL DE LA PRIMAVERA
SEPTEMBER (Final week)
Trujillo (La Libertad)
Trujillo, capital of the department of
La Libertad, has forged a particular
reputation for holding the spring
festival of greatest spendlor. The
festival is intimately linked to
marinera norteña, which is always danced
by a couple, waving a handkerchief in
the air. The graceful beauty of the
Trujillo women turn Trujillo into Peru's
capital of grace. The festival features
various tournaments demonstrating the
regional variations of this dance.
During the week-long festival, streets
and homes fill with decorations, floats
are paraded through the city. The beauty
queen is always flanked by drum
majorettes who travel here from all over
world to show off their skills.
SEÑOR DE LOS MILAGROS
OCTOBER 18-28
Lima
On October 18, 19 and 28, one the most
multitudinary processions worldwide
takes place. The procession dates back
to colonial times, when a slave drew the
image of a black Christ on the walls of
a wretched hut in the plantation of
Pachacamilla, near Lima. The famous
image has remained intact in spite of
time, earthquakes and other cataclysms.
As a result worship of the image rose to
new heights, until it became the largest
procession in South America. During the
whole month the litter is taken in a
trailer to distant places throughout the
city followed by ten of thousands
pilgrims dress in purple tunics. Around
this time of year, the streets fill with
vendors of a wide variety of typical
dishes a sweets, such as the famous
Turron de Doña Pepa. In October to
commemorate the Lord of Miracles (Señor
de los Milagros) Lima hosts the well-known
bullfight season in which the best
toreros in the world participate. It
takes place in the centuries-old Plaza
de Acho bullring.
VIRGEN DEL CARMEN
DECEMBER 27
Chincha - Ica
After the Lord of Miracles is the Virgen
del Carmen the most venerated image in
the country. Its worship dates back to
colonial times when friars from the
Carmeline Orderarrived. In various
communities in Ica. (300 km south of
Lima) as well as the areas of El Carmen
and El Guayabo in Chincha (200 km south
of Lima), home to most Afro-Peruvian
population, the locals honor to the
virgin at the end of every year. The
festival is well-known for its folklore:
joyful and pretty steamy. People perform
dances in the main square at the rhythm
of cajones (drums made out of a wooden
box), guitars and quijada (the lower
jawbone of a donkey, mule or horse, a
effective percussion instrument).
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