Festivities Calendar Cusco Peru

The city of Cusco has always been characterised by its happines, hospitality and marvellous traditions which lives inside the spirit of its people. The Calendar is well organised with fiestas through all the year, which makes Cusco very attractive to tourists especially for the combination of Spanish and Inka cultures.

Touristic Calendar in Peru

"HOLLY WEEK": April. Religious festival. In Cusco this celebration has its own peculiarity, observing the pilgrimage of many local, national and foreign people. Holly Monday has a great importance for the procession of the "Taytacha" or Lord of the Earthquakes and it finishes on the Easter Sunday.

"QOYLLOR RIT'I": June. Religious festival translated as fiesta of the Lord of Ice. You can appreciate pre-Hispanic rituals mixed with Christian traditions, on a three-day-celebration . The place where this festival takes place is called Sinaqara, Ocongate; located at 4800 m.a.s.l with a temperature that reaches -4°C. It is particular for being a famous pilgrimage with more than 20 000 faithful followers, undertaking a 8 Km hike. Dance groups from the region and other regions take partof it. On the return journey ,they make rituals such as the adoration of the Apu Ausangate and the Lord of Qoyllur Ritt'l. The festival is considered as the most important in America.

"CORPUS CRISTI": June. Religous festival celebrated in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco. The 14 images of saints from churches in Cusco participate in the parade. The start is preceeded by an enormous float covered entirely on silver. It is a mixture of Andean and Catholic traditions, you can appreciate the luxure of each of the images, and try the typical meal for this time called "Chiriuchi" (cold food which includes different sorts of meat, tortillas, toasted maize, cheese, and roasted guinea pig).

"INTI RAYMI": 24th June. One of Peru's prime tourist attraction. It is a performance of the Fiesta of the Sun in Inka times, the journey starts at Qoricancha and ends up at Sacsayhuaman, where the spectacle is even better, you can appreciate the sacrifice of the llama offered to the sun, many dances and even the performance of the Inka itself. A "must" if visiting Cusco at this time of the year.

" VIRGEN DEL CARMEN": 16 July. Known as the festival of "Mamacha Carmen". This fiesta takes place in Paucartambo with 15 different dances which perform for four days nonstoping, plus there is free food and drinks at every "cargo" which is offered by the people in charge of each dance. What you can probably do as well is go up to Tres Cruces, a place not far from Paucartambo where you can appreciate a very peculiar and espectacular sunrise, where the sun seems to divide and rise up as two suns. Definately worth going.

"CORPUS DE SANTIAGO": This festivity is quite popular for its dances and performances. The typical plate for this kind of festivity is the Chiriuchu. It is celebrated at the plaza of Santiago

"CORPUS DE SANTA ANA": This fiesta is celebrated on the plaza of Santa Ana there is a traditional mass, dances and a lot of drinking.

"OFRENDA A LA TIERRA": This celebration is quite interesting because it was created by the Inkas, it is a ritual of adoration of the land. This festivity was meant to please the land so it would give them a good year and great production.

"CORPUS DE SAN CRISTOBAL": It is celebrated on the neighbourhood of San Cristobal, it is also a tradition to eat the chiriuchu and perform dances and shows, there is also a mass.

"CORPUS DE ALMUDENA": This is not much different from the others just celebrated in a different neighbourhood called Almudena.

"CORPUS DE SAN JERONIMO": This festivity goes along with the other "chorpus", besides this saint is supose to protect the Tourists and Lawyers.

"MES TURISTICO": From September to October there are many sportive, cultural and ecological events in favor of the touristic month.

"TODOS LOS SANTOS": In this festivity it is a tradition to eat the "lechon" or baked pork, and also to visit the cemeteries and your loved ones whom passed out in the past. There are some special breads with figures of babies called "wawas de pan".

"SANTURANTICUY": Christmas time brings the magic of a beautiful fair on the main square or Plaza de Armas, Many people from the mountains come to sell images of the baby Jesus, Virgin Mary, Joseph and the three kings (all made by them), they also sell images of sheppers animals, etc. Appart from that the last few years, the number of sellers and the variety of products have increased the variety of products they sell such as, clothes,ceramics, souvenirs and a lot of things.