FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS
Peruvians celebrate more than 3000 festivals every year. Their festivals are known among the people as fiestas or carnivals. Some celebrate the Catholic saints, others honour the traditional Inca beliefs.
Ritual of the Yunza
Yunza is a carival that takes place all throughout February. Those in charge of the festivities of Yunza artificially plant a tree loaded with gifts and decorations. When all of the guests have arrived, everyone begins dancing around the tree. After a while, couples begin to chop at the tree with an ax or a machete. The tradition continues the following year, when the couple who makes the final swing that brings down the tree make all the arrangements for that year's yunza. Parades are one of the most familiar aspects of Carnival celebrations. Though each Peruvian city or region has its own specific elements and traditions, certain elements such as parades, costumes and dance are the same throughout the country. Families and neighborhoods get together to create floats for the parades, and people wear brightly colored costumes and masks that represent traditional characters and events. Parades always have plenty of music and dancing.
Inti Raymi
One of the biggest and most impressive celebration, a homage to the Sun, an important god in Inca culture. The main part of the day takes place at the Ruins of Sacsahuaman, a beautiful natural scenery at 2 kms from Cusco of the large ceremony, an acknowledgment to the Sun. The ceremony starts earlier the same day at the Koricancha (the Temple of the Sun, in the city of Cusco) and at the Plaza de Armas (the Haucaypata, in Inca times). Around noon the participants go to Sacsahuaman, together with the thousands of national and international tourists that came especially to see this impressive ceremony, where two llamas are sacrificed. |
Watery street battles are a tradition that dates back to the 1800s. Historically, carnivals in Peru would shut down entire cities for three days, and anyone who dared to venture out during that time ran the risk of being drenched with water. Men would roam the streets with sealed eggshells filled with scented water while women watched from above, preparing to dump buckets of water onto unsuspecting people passing below. Today, the eggs have been replaced with water balloons and foam spray.
June 24th, one of the shortest day on the southern hemisphere, was organized by the Incas (possibly on June 21th), because they were afraid that the Sun (their Father) would abandon them (his sons). |
The Feast of Corpus Christi
The feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated at the end of June each year. Large statues of saints and virgins are kept in different during the year are dressed up and are paraded through the streets. They arrive at the cathedral of Cusco in order to "greet" the body of Christ, sixty days after Easter Sunday.
After seven days (el octavo), the saints participate in the procession again before going back to their places where they will remain for the rest of the year.
The feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated at the end of June each year. Large statues of saints and virgins are kept in different during the year are dressed up and are paraded through the streets. They arrive at the cathedral of Cusco in order to "greet" the body of Christ, sixty days after Easter Sunday.
After seven days (el octavo), the saints participate in the procession again before going back to their places where they will remain for the rest of the year.