SERENDIPITOUS
MOMENTS ALONG THE ROAD
PERUVIAN FIESTAS WE HAVE
STUMBLED UPON....
One of the highlights of any trip
to Peru (or other Third World country) certainly must be the magic moments when
one comes upon some happening that is "non-touristy" -- local celebrations of
one sort or another that allow a visitor to witness special aspects of
indigenous traditions that are not public displays designed to extract maximum
dollars from the tourist, but rather are authentic events that have traditions
dating back centuries. In recent years, we've had a chance to see (and
take part in) several Peruvian fiestas, which are classic examples of this sort
of event -- and our travel itineraries are arranged in such a way so as to allow
us to enjoy such opportunities as they come along. We've attached lots of
photos -- please click on the thumbnails to better enjoy a glimpse of these special
celebrations....
YANQUE, COLCA VALLEY:
We love the towns of the Colca Valley, north of Arequipa.
Until the early 1980s, this valley was one of the most isolated parts of Peru,
seldom receiving visitors. The construction of a major irrigation project
in southern Peru led to the development of improved communication routes into the valley
-- today the road between Arequipa and the Colca is paved about half way, and it
is now only about a three hour ride from Arequipa.
The modern towns of the Colca
Valley date to the early colonial period, when numerous small
native villages were abandoned as their populations were
forcibly
collected into reducciones (centralized villages) by
Spanish
officials.
The resulting towns were more easily administered;
each usually
had
a resident Spanish priest and most witnessed the construction of a Catholic
church. Today, colonial Catholic traditions (as well as remnants of
indigenous practices) are preserved in the many religious festivals that take
place throughout the year in the Colca Valley.
In
2003, we visited the town of Yanque at the time of one of these
festivals. While walking
around the town, we were invited into the courtyard of
the house of the
mayordomo (head man) of the
festival,
where preparations were being made for the celebration.
Chicha
(corn beer) was being made by several ladies inside one of the rooms of
the
house, as seen in the photo to the left. This potent
drink, along with copious quantities of cane alcohol, was being served to all of
the guests.
Several
andas (floats) were under construction amid much music,
drinking, etc. 
This
was the real purpose of the party -- these decorations would later be taken to the
Yanque church and used to cover the lower portions of the platform the carries
the statue of town's patron saint. The photos at the left show flowers, fruits, and
silver plates being tied onto wooden frameworks in various parts
of the courtyard of the mayordomo's house.
There was also a lot of drinking -- jugs of chicha
were passed around and glasses (BIG glasses!) of chicha were filled and
refilled. Aguardiente (cane alcohol) was also being served
(thankfully, in small glasses). The sequence of photos below gives some
sense of the amount of drinking that was going on....
As the afternoon progressed, many of the participants joined
in enthusiastic dancing in the 
courtyard
of the house, with a local band playing in the corner, thus providing music typical
of the Andean world.
Click here to
see a short video of Dave, part of our 2003 group, dancing with the
mayordomo's wife....
Finally, we should note that the raucous party did have a
serious side -- the next morning,
the
anda carrying the statue of Yanque's patron saint
was paraded through the town
and to the church ... the photos at left and right were taken just as the anda
entered the sanctuary.
OLLANTAYTAMBO, SACRED VALLEY:
The annual celebration of the Senor de
Choquekillca (the town's patron saint) takes place each year in late May or
early June (actually, fifty days after Easter) in Ollantaytambo, at the northwest end of the Sacred Valley, just
north of Cuzco. We've been lucky enough to be in Ollantaytambo during
the festival several times. In 2003 and 2004, for example, we managed to
catch almost the entire event -- including a nighttime mass in the chapel near
the Inca archaeological site. Moreover, Ananda's friend Guillermina Sisa
is often an active participant -- one of her sons has led one dance group and
her youngest son Lenny has been one of the costumed dancers.
Things start with more than a dozen dance groups, from throughout the Cuzco
region, assembling around the Ollantaytambo plaza and marching down the road
towards the chapel. In the evening, hundreds of villagers crowd into the small chapel that is the
focus of the celebration. After the mass, there is an impressive
fireworks display, with skyrockets fired off from the parking lot in front of
the Ollantaytambo archaeological site. The celebration lasts four four
days -- and at least one of the groups is dancing every minute of those four
days. As with the fiesta in the Colca Valley, also, there is an awful
lot of drinking going on throughout the celebration.
Our first group of photos are from the 1987
fiesta:
This second group of photos are of the
processions around the Ollantaytambo plaza, on
the first day of the fiesta
in 2003:
The various dance groups headed to the
chapel near the Ollantaytambo archaeological site, where a Vesper mass took
place the evening of the first day. The next set of photos are from inside
the chapel at the end of the mass and as the participants left the church, and
include some shots of the fireworks that were set off in the chapel courtyard
and the adjacent parking lot:
The next morning there was another procession
of the various dance groups to the chapel for mass. The following set
of photos were taken outside the chapel as the dancers came from Ollantaytambo's plaza to the courtyard of the chapel:
The last group of photos from 2003 were taken after mass,
in the courtyard of the chapel, and along the street back to Ollantaytambo's
plaza, as people relaxed and mingled following the morning's activities:
In 2004, we were in Ollantaytambo for the
entire fiesta. The first group of photos include images of the various
processions that took place throughout the four days:
We really like several of the dance groups
-- for their costumes, their dances, and for what they represent in terms of
traditional Andean culture Among our favorites are the Sacras
(devils), who often are seen on the rooftops of the town during the
processions:
Another favorite are the Capa Coyas, who
represent llamas (they sing in a high falsetto) and who carry the hides of
young llamas on their backs. Our friend Mario Ayala, principal of the
elementary school in Ollanta, has been one of the leaders of this group:
The final group that we will illustrate from
our 2004 visit is
usually called "El Doctor" or "doctorcito" -- the main role in this dance
depicts an oppressing white individual, who always carries a whip and a small
red book, who always wears a fancy suit, and whose mask usually has a very
long nose. Notice, however, that in 2004, his mask was destroyed during
the third day of the fiesta and, after that, he wore a distinctly different
mask (but still representing the "gringo" oppressor):
In 2007, we arrived in Ollantaytambo for the
start of the festival and saw almost the entire first and second day.
Then, while Jim led our group to Machu Picchu, Ananda stayed in
Ollantaytambo with Guillermina Sisa and continued to film and photograph the
final two days. We now have a very nice video of most of the dance
groups (in 2007, there were more than fifteen groups participating) --
unfortunately, the video is too long to paste into this webpage! The
photos below represent a small sample of the photographs that we took in
2007.
First, a few shots of the 2007 processions:
Next, photos of many of the dancers that we
saw in 2007:
Finally, here are a number of portraits of
individuals who we saw participating in the 2007 Senor de Choquekillca
festival:
CORPUS CRISTI, CUZCO:
The festival of Corpus Cristi has its roots in
13th century medieval Europe. At the time of the Spanish
conquest of
Peru, it was the principal annual celebration of the Catholic
church in Europe. In Cuzco today, this fiesta, which takes place in late May or
early June each year (the week following Trinity Sunday), involves moving the
fourteen patron saints of Cuzco's
parishes from their home
churches to the city's
cathedral on the main plaza. Major processions, with bands, costumed
dancers, etc., accompany andas (floats) that carry the statue of each patron saint
through the city. In contrast to Inti Rami,
a celebration later in
June that is primarily designed for tourists, Corpus Cristi is a authentic
amalgam of Hispanic and Inca traditions (the processions
of the parish saint images replicates the public display of the
mummies
of Inca kings in the pre-Hispanic period). Corpus Cristi is probably the
most colorful and most authentic annual event in Cuzco -- we've
enjoyed photographing these processions several times....
OPENING PAGE
COMPLETE
ITINERARY
OPTIONAL EXTENSION TO THE NAZCA LINES AND PARACAS PENINSULA
COMMENT
FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS
The modern towns of the Colca
Valley date to the early colonial period, when numerous small
native villages were abandoned as their populations were
forcibly
collected into reducciones (centralized villages) by
Spanish
officials.
The resulting towns were more easily administered;
each usually
had
a resident Spanish priest and most witnessed the construction of a Catholic
church. Today, colonial Catholic traditions (as well as remnants of
indigenous practices) are preserved in the many religious festivals that take
place throughout the year in the Colca Valley.
