This festival in honor of Puno’s patron saint is one of the year’s most spectacular festivals of Peru and South America. Considered the folkloric capital of the country, Puno offers a vibrant display of costume, music, and dance in honor of the Mamacha Carmen. Folkloric dance competitions and parades create a spectacle involving more than 40,000 dancers and 5,000 dancers as well as tens of thousands of more indirectly involved embroiderers, boot makers, sponsors, and others.

Dancing Through History

Puno has almost 300 different classified dances with distinct music, dress, and choreography and charged with symbolism and significance. Different neighborhoods of the city and communities of the countryside train well in advance to represent their area and dances, investing heavily in elaborate folkloric costumes that pertain to each dance. To watch them perform is as if you were watching the millennial history of Puno dance past you.

Dances like the Phusa Morenos or Siku Morenos emerged from the black slave community of Puno after the conquest. They are danced in costumes of the devil, angel and Afro-Peruvian. These dances led to the famous Morenada (Black Dance) and Diablada (Devil’s Dance). Other dances, like the happy mestizo dance known as the Pandilla Puneña date back to the post-colonial Republican era. With the women clad in braids, bowler hats, many-petticoated skirts, shawls, and little boots they represent the typical Andean women.

Its pre-Columbian dances of Aymara and Quechua roots include the Los Maris or Cahuiris, in honor of the gods of lightning and thunder of the same name, the Llullmitha with its long dragging dresses and representation of the sown fields, the alternating male and female circles of the Markheta, and the Inca Huallatha. Ancient dances like the Llamerada and Llameritos were some of the oldest, danced by the shepherds and llama drivers of the Andean altiplano.

Programmed Events of Virgen of Candelaria 2012

Jan 26^th the Queen of Folklore will be elected and crowned. On Feb 1^st the actual statue of the Virgen of Candelaria will be transferred in procession from the San Juan Bautista Sanctuary where it normally resides to Puno’s Cathedral. The procession in honor of the Mamacha Carmen is on February 2^nd, when the dancers from the countryside descend upon Puno with their instruments and vibrant costumes (studded with gems for the Morenada, with feather caps, or as Condors and Llamas.

The Indigenous Dance Contest, with dances performed in native and typical dress, will be on Feb 5^th at 7:00am at the Enrique Torres Belón Stadium. Afterwards, they will take to the streets and continue dancing in parade. The “Urban Festival” on the Octava showcases Colonial and Republican Era (‘Mestizo’) dances, mostly performed in bullfighters’ dress. This is when the barrios of Puno present their own troupes. The competition will take place on Feb 12^th at 7:00am in the Enrique Torres Belón Stadium. On the following day the dancers all participate in the Folkloric Parade to the Virgen of Candelaria. After dancing before the Virgen they will continue on to the cemetery. Feb 14^th is the concert of the musical bands, and Feb 15^th is the Parade of the Sicuris and Zampoñas. The festival finishes with separate parties and dances of the groups in their respective neighborhoods on February 16^th through 18^th, although prizes will not be awarded until March 25^th.

Remember that for this festival PUNO FILLS UP FAST! Try and make your plans as far in advance as possible to make sure to get the most of your trip. Pirwa Travel Service can help with transport, excursions and tours (after all, you can’t go to Puno without visiting the world’s highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca, and its famous Floating Islands of Uros!), and Pirwa Puno Backpackers can provide comfy and cheap lodging within walking distance of the main square and the harbor.

As we ‘ve all discovered upon waking up hungover in strange places, drinking close to where you plan on spending the night is never a bad idea… That’s why Pirwa Inclan in Lima’s in-house bar and rooftop terrace, or Pirwa Colonial in Cusco’s in-house bar is the perfect place to spend your

Halloween night!!

We’re cross-country partying and invite you to come drinking and dancing with us!

Once we’re drunk enough we may hit the streets to stop by some of our favorite spots in Lima and Cusco, but we’ll end the night back at Pirwa with you a safe distance from your bed…

You don’t haaaave to dress up, but we’ll make it worth your while with some drink specials and are always there to help you put together a ridiculous outfit to match our own!

ç

What is it?

Sacred Mt Pachatusan, whose name is quechua for “He Who Sustains the Earth”, has the honor of being a preferred site for traditional pre-Columbian rites- such as offerings to the Apu (Mountain Deity) or Pachamama (Earth Mother), purifications, and Ayahuasca ceremonies- as well as the site of one of Peru’s largest pilgrimages, the Lord of Huanca. The Huanca shrine is nestled in a spot of great natural beauty along the flank of Pachatusan almost at the Río Vilcanota River shore near Chinchero.

On September 14^th each year Peruvians and foreign devotees undertake the cold 4-6hr hike to the Lord of Huanca, to be greeted by the wounded Christ painted on the shrine’s rock walls centuries ago and make their petitions, cleanse themselves in the curative waters of its spring, and leave with renewed optimism for the year ahead. About halfway along the route up to the Sanctuary, you’ll come across vendors selling religious items and miniature representations of desires (houses, cars, legal papers) to leave at the base of the image. Prized items like the car at right are brought to be blessed. The 14^th is the central day, but festivities are ongoing for a week. San Salvador, 2km from the village, puts on an artisan handicrafts fair during the Lord of Huanca feast.

Much like the Q’ollur Rit’i pilgrimage, the site began as a sacred stone cluster, like many pre-Columbian huacas, or natural shrines, and then the painted Christ appeared, providing the veneer of Christianity, and finally a traditional temple built around it. Like Q’ollur Rit’i, its origin legend shows Christ appearing to a humble Quechua from the countryside, in the case of Huanca, showing the wounds that showed his solidarity with the maltreated and Quechua population.

The Legend

Under Spanish dominance, conditions in Cusco and the Sacred Valley declined rapidly. Mining was a prominent activity, and the Viceroy imposed forced labor to extract the resources. The origin legend of Lord of Huanca says that in 1675, when the Marquis of Valleumbroso discovered a rich vein, Yasos mine was created and among the forced laborers was Diego Quispe, from Chinchero. After defending a fellow indigenous worker being whipped by the foreman, he was imprisoned for a severe punishment the following day. Fearing the next day’s pain, Diego opted for escape, taking the path to Chinchero across the mountains of Huanca. When daylight came he took refuge in a cavern of rocks piled together, praying throughout the day as he listened to the steps of passing Spaniards. During the moonless night he was dazzled by an apparition of Jesus Christ, wounds from his final whipping still fresh. Christ said to him to depart in the morning for Chinchero and present himself to the priest for communion and then return. Beaten by fatigue, hunger, and a cluster of emotions, Diego slept until being awoken by Christ’s voice “Diego…arise…” Leaving a humble silver cross at Christ’s feet, Diego did as told. When he returned later, it was with a small group including the local priest, the only people he trusted to give away his unauthorized presence in Chinchero. In the presence of these other witnesses, there appeared Christ again, and the first pilgrimage to the Lord of Huanca was undertaken.

How to Get There?

Mt Pachatusan is located in Calca Province, about 48km from Cusco, and is accessible from Cusco’s San Jerónimo district or San Salvador (from Cusco it’s 20 minutes by car to Pisaq and an additional 10 minutes from Pisaq to San Salvador). From San Salvador one begins the hike to the Sanctuary on Pachatusan. If you begin the hike from San Jerónimo you can expect about a 4-6 hour hike.

Remember that Pirwa Travel Service has information desks in all Pirwa Hostels and B&Bs (of which Cusco has four!) The friendly staff at Pirwa Travel is always ready to help you organize your travel plans or help arrange transport or tours.

If you’re not sure you want to undertake the hike due to the altitude or cold, you can watch the festivities in Cusco´s Plaza de Armas, where costumed dancers are hardly ever in short supply. (Yes, that’s Cusco’s main square at left.) Grab a set at a balcony table in Pirwa Corregidor´s in-house restaurant Plus Café and you can watch the show without jostling with the crowds.

The Andean town of Andamarca in Peru’s Ayacucho region receives 1000s of visitors during Qatun Yaku Raymi (Big Water Festival) on August 20^th-26^th. Andamarca was the historic capital of the Rucanas (Working People) from 700AD up to their conquest by Incas.  In this dry climate, the pre-Inca agricultural terraces rely on an underground irrigating system and water is not only precious but still revered as a deity in pre-Columbian rituals.

The Water Festival begins after the annual cleaning of the water canals in preparation for the coming of the rains. It kicks off the September`s agricultural activities and brings communities together in a celebration of the fertility of the soil. Throughout the celebrations there will be artisan and food fairs as well as dance contests, though the central day of the festivities is August 24^th, when the traditional Water Festival is held and a famous execution is reenacted. During the ancient rite of Pagapu, which never fell from practice, offerings are given to the Pachamama (Mother Earth) and other natural deities such as the Apu mountain divinities. It all unfolds amid the sights and sounds of qarawi songs and Technicolor scissor dancers.

Reenacting the Death of an Inca

More than 160 students and artists recreat the capture and death of Inca Huàscar, who vied for the Inca throne against his brother Atalhualpa for 5 years, only to be captured in Andamarca in 1532, the same year Atahualpa himself was captured by the newly arrived Spanish conquistadors. Atahualpa ordered Huáscar´s execution from captivity to avoid an alliance between Huáscar and his Spanish captors.

The Blessing the New Water

In August communities unite in a colorful jubilee to celebrate the blessing of the water, which in fertilizing the Pachamama and renews life in the staggered Andean terraces and the community itself. During the Water Festival the image of San Isidro Labrador is processed along the Negro Mayo and Vizca Rivers and the water canals until reaching Tortora Pond for the blessing of the water. At the same time, Pagapu ceremonies are carried out to honor and ask the natural pre-Inca and Inca deities for strength and fortune. Offerings are rendered and symbolic dances performed by an innumerable cast of traditional characters.

SCISSOR DANCING!

In its enthusiastic attempt to highlight and protect endangered aspects of the world´s cultural heritage, UNESCO surprised many the week it declared, along with French Cuisine, the importance of Croatian Throat-Warbling and the Peruvian Scissor Dance. To the doubters out there: get yourself to northern Peru and see something you´ll never forget!

The Scissor Dance (Danza de las Tijeras or Galas) originated deep in the Peruvian highlands and is marked by the enthusiastic acrobatics of dancers who, snapping scissors in hand, move to music of violins and harps. The movements and steps honor natural deities such as apus or wamanis and the pachamama and were originally danced by the holy men of the day, the “Tusuq Laylas”, whom the Spaniards considered the devil`s spawn, forcing them to flee into the mountains to escape persecution. Their reintegration into their villages was dependent on the condition that their dances honor Catholic deities.

Legend says that their skill and ability to engage in dance competitions of 10, 12 hours where they dance intermittently with their competitors, comes from a pact with the devil. (They must pass the devil´s tests in the related Atipanacuy ritual which takes place in December. In Atipanacuy, along with the scissor dances come spectacles in which these “sons of the devil” spill their own blood in the name of Christ, running metal spikes through their bodies and engaging in other bloody feats until reaching masochistic ecstasis.)

National Pisco Day

Pirwa Pub Crawlers

Because Peru needed an excuse to celebrate it twice, Pisco has two national holidays: Pisco Day on the 4^th Sunday of July, and Pisco Sour Day on the 1^st Saturday of February.

That means that Pisco Day falls on Sunday, July 24^th this year, and Pirwa Hostels in Lima doesn´t need to be told twice!  Drink will be flowing all over Lima, from half-priced drinks in bars and restaurants, to free drinks handed out by promoters in parks and plazas.  The fountain in the Plaza Mayor will flow with Pisco instead of water on this day- last year, more than 2000Lt flowed through the fountain!  Pisco is considered a part of the national heritage of Peru, so do your part and join Pirwa in a Lima Pub Crawl in celebration of Peruvian Pisco! (Yes, we have a bar inside the hostel, but this is an important day, just one bar won´t do…)

A Quick Pisco Primer

Lima´s Fountain of Pisco

Pisco is a Peruvian grape brandy which originated along the Peruvian Coast. It´s one of Peru´s premier products and is only produced in Ica (in the Pisco Valley), Lima, Arequipa, Moquegua, and Tacna.  Its distinguishing characteristic is that it´s the only brandy made from the pure juice of the grape as opposed to rehydrated, fermented, and distilled residual material (grape skins, pressings), giving it a more complex taste and aromatic structure.

The name comes from the Quechua term for the small seabirds along the Peruvian coast, from which the civilization of Pisco (more than 2000 years ago), town of Pisco, and port of Pisco ended up taking their names.  The Pisco were known for their ceramics, and a vessel for storing drinks took its name from them, eventually becoming the name of the brandy stored in these vessels during the colonial period.

During the 16^th and 17^th centuries the Viceroyalty of Peru was South America´s main wine producer, with production centered in the Ica/Pisco Valley, but little by little grape brandy production also increased and was sold throughout Peru by the Jesuits.  In 1580 a ransom was even paid to Sir Francis Drake of 300 grape brandy bottles in exchange for hostages taken from the Port of Pisco.

Pisco Cocktails- Get Mixing!

Pisco Day Desperation

The most traditional cocktail and National Drink of Peru is Pisco Sour, a mix of Pisco, Lime Juice, Cane Syrup, Egg White, Ice, and Angostura Bitters (Aromatic Bitters). Other classic cocktails include:

Beatríz: pisco, granadine syrup, cream, cinamon and cacao cream.

Biblia: pisco, port, egg yolk, cacao cream, curasao, cinnamon and ice.

Calentito: pisco with lemon and hot tea.

Canario: pisco with orange juice.

Capitán: aromatic pisco with vermouth.

Chilcano: aromatic pisco with ginger ale, angostura bitters (aromatic bitters), lime, and ice.

Melate: sweet wine and pisco.

Pisco Punch: pineapple, lime juice, sugar, acacia, distilled water.

Pucará´s Throat Slasher Ceremony

Despite the fascinating nature of the spectacle, it´s hard to find information online about Pucará´s Jatun Ñakaq Festival, otherwise known as the Throat-Slasher Festival or El Gran Degollador (The Great Decapitator). But if you´re in Puno between the 16th and 18th of June, maybe you´ll be lucky enough to witness it firsthand!

Much as the Inti Raymi festival is based around a theatrical ritual reenactment of ancient rites, locals in Pucará present an extraordinary scene as they reenact an ancient rite in a theatrical production involving hundreds of young actors directed by Ñaupa Riqchari (Let the Past Awake) Cultural Group. It takes place at the Kalasaya Ceremonial Center and Archeological Site in the Pucará District of Lampa Province in Puno.

You´ll notice that the pyramid site is decorated with carved stone trophy head borders- human sacrifices occurred in the ceremonial patio as offerings to the supreme god of the Pucará Civilization, the Decapitator. Long before the reign of the Inca, human sacrifices had a great value in society, although they were only resorted to in severe cases like drought. Today, locals congregate from Puno´s Quechua-speaking zone to enjoy the 4 hour theatrical show, which reaches its apex with a simulted human sacrifice.

Afterwards, all the blood cleaned up, there´ll be general partying and native dances will be on display. One of the most well-known is the beautiful Puli Puli, whose large smooth steps and leaps represent the stages of Quinua cultivation from sowing through flowering to harvest. Another typical dance is the Ayarachi (Soul Which Cries), a dance rising from the violent transitional period of the Spanish Conquest, when the Imperial City of Cusco tragically fell to Pizarro´s troops.

What To Bring Home

You´ll see them on rooftops all over the Andean High Plateau: the Pucará Bulls described by Puno writer Enrique Cuentas Ormachea as “an expression of baroque art and, at the same time, a manifestation of the magical religious spirit of the Qolla peasant.” An estimated 80% of locals are potters in addition to subsistence farmers, and the bulls are the most prized ceramics from Puno.

I couldn´t pick just one….and so we end with a herd of bulls….

Originally a ritual flask filled with chicha and cattle blood and drunk by the head priest during the cattle-branding ceremony, you´ll find guardian bulls adorning rooftops and providing luck for their residents.

After Pucará: Exploring the Rest of Puno

The Plan: Walk along the Ecotouristic Inca Seafront Bay (Malecón Ecoturístico Bahía de los Incas), a pedestrian path showcasing views of Lake Titicaca and pre-Inca solar clocks, or hitching posts of the sun known as sukankas or intihuatanas. Once at the harbor, stop into the Yaraví Ship Naval Museum, located inside the oldest single-propeller iron ship in the world, built in Britain, crossed the Andes in pieces on mule-back and then reassembled again in the Lake. When you´re ready to hit the waters of the lake itself, board a motorboat and stop by the traditional Quechua-speaking Islands of Amantani and Taquile, whose colorful weavings are considered the best in Peru and were proclaimed by UNESCO as “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” and the Floating Islands of Uros, whose Aymara-speaking Uros tribe (known as kot-suña, people of the lake) depend on the lake´s tortora reeds for housing, sustenance, and transport in addition to using them to build and maintain the islands themselves.

Just a 15 minute walk away from Lake Titicaca Harbor you´ll find Pirwa Hostel in Puno, managed by husband and wife team Jenny and Carlos.  It´s also located only a couple blocks from the city center. For the same low prices available at Pirwa Hostels and B&Bs throughout Peru, you´ll have access to comfortable beds in cheery rooms, 24hr hot water, wifi throughout, reference maps and information as well as an in-house travel desk where you can get detailed answers to your questions and arrange tours or transport.  While you´re out exploring Puno you can be sure that your possessions are secure and that someone from reception will be waiting for you- no matter the hour.

Just four hours from the Imperial City of the Incas, Cusco, is the scenic colonial town of Paucartambo, instantly recognizable with its red-roofed mud-brick homes.  Once a year this sleepy town bursts into bright colors and frenzied activity.  From all over Peru people gather to celebrate Paucartambo´s Virgen of Carmen Festival.  From July 15^th-18^th devotees and revelers venerate the Mamacha Carmen, patron of the mestizos.

It all starts in Paucartambo´s Main Square, where singing quechua choirs kick off the festivities.  The streets fill with traditionally costumed dancers accompanying the Mamacha Carmen statue (its origins are unknown but it is thought to have been brought from Spain in the 16^th century).  Elaborately costumed Sajra dancers, representing demons, perform on the rooftops, pausing their clownery and dances to hide their faces and howl in fear as the Mamacha Carmen passes in front of them.

Paucartambo takes this festival seriously- each family group in the town represents a “house” responsible for displaying a certain costume and dance.  Those who live abroad come bearing proof of their family ties and thereby earn the right to dance, practicing for months for the main event and many times enduring some hazing along the way so that they´ll take their responsibility seriously…

The festival includes an mock holy battle between the faithful and the demons before concluding with the farewell festival, the kacharpari.

Don´t forget to see…

The Sunrise from Tres Cruces

The famous sunrise over Manú Jungle at Three Golden Crosses Lookout, in the Acjanaco Mountain Pass 35km from Paucartambo is not to be missed.  In the months of May, June, and July the clouds create an array of forms, colors and tonal gradations not seen in other areas or in other parts of the year.  Locals believe, due to the illusions created by the clouds, that during this time the sun comes out dancing.

The Ninamarca Tombs and Watoqto

Nearby, one can find the Ninamarca Tombs archeological complex.  It comprises 17 stone and clay tower mausoleums known as Chullpas, built to house mummified Incan remains.  The Watoqto arqueological site is can also be found in this area- come and admire the precise stonework with which the Incas constructed these inclined walls and circular constructions.

It is in honor of the Inca´s supreme divinity, the first day of the Incan solar calendar, and the winter solstice that Cusco explodes into color and elaborately costumed celebration every June.  The Festival of the Sun was the Inca´s most important annual ceremony, supposedly dating back to the very first Inca, Pachacutec.  After a long period of prohibition spanning the Spanish colonial period and its aftermath, Intí Raymi sprung back with a force- nowadays, 50,000 spectators and more than 500 actors, dancers, and musicians participate in the festivities.  If you can´t make it to the main event, don´t worry- the carnivalesque atmosphere continues in a with dance competitions, free concerts, street fairs and parades in Cusco´s main streets.  It won´t end until next month after the Machu Picchu Centennial, so keep checking back here for more info on Cusco´s festivities.

Official Program: Friday, 24^th of June 2011

08:15   The Tahauntinsuyo rainbow flag is raised in the Main Square by the 5^th Mountain Brigade

08:30   Cusco´s Archbishop performs Mass and the Te Deum at the Basilica Cathedral

9:00     Act I: Salute to the Sun at Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun

Cusco travels back in time as characters of importance in the time of the Inca Empire assemble for the Incan Emperor´s Salute to the Sun.  The ceremony begins amid the sounds of conch shells and traditional Andean Instruments.  Afterwards, the characters will process along flower-strewn streets to the Main Square.

10:30   Act II: Meeting of the Times at the Main Square

Epochs clash as the Inca, from a large huaca (Incan Altar) constructed in the Plaza de Armas, officially addresses the Mayor of Cusco

13:30   Act III- The Main Event at the Fortress of Sacsayhuamán

During the principal ceremony, Intí Raymi reaches its culmination with a spectacular performance steeped in tradition.  It includes the Chicha de Jora rite, a simulated black llama sacrifice, and the fire rite.  There will be dancing, jubilation, divining from llama blood and viscera, and sacred bonfires.

Tips for Travelers

• Tickets aren´t necessary to see the main ceremony at Sacsayhuamán- if you don´t mind celebrating from a distance, you can grab a spot hillside local-style.  For those who want prime seating, however, there are still tickets being sold.
• So many people come for the festivities in June/July that rooms are hard to come by.  If you can, try to reserve in advance.  Also, be prepared for price hikes in transport, lodging, and food.  (Pirwa´s policy to keep prices stable, so we´re offering the same low prices we do all year long.)
• June is wintertime in Cusco, the weather is variable: cold in the mornings and evenings, and sunny and hot in the afternoon.  Come prepared with sunscreen and bring warm layers.
• The streets of Cusco are more crowded now than at any other time of year- with dancers and musicians in the streets and spectators crowding the sidewalks you need to remain cautious of pick-pockets hoping to profit from your distraction.

The entire world has its eyes on South Africa in these days. Everyone is cheering for their team. Since the games are in the early hours of the day not everyone feels like leaving the hostel without a good breakfast. You feel like keeping your jammies. Come and join us in our Pirwa Bar to watch the games on a big screen while enjoying your breakfast.

We will start with a meat feast tonight to provide you with a good basis. Come and join us for our BBQ. Make sure you will be able to handle our PIRWA Specials in our PIRWA BAR tonight…
Find out who else is staying in the hostel. Find some new travel buddies or maybe even friends for life. You will meet a lot of new people and have the pleasure to hang out with your local PIRWA Staff and get to know them a little more. The will be able to tell you about all the secrets you need to know!!!

Come and join us in the PIRWA BAR tonight.

You won’t be able to make it? That’s a pity. Check this out to reserve your bed for next time.
www.pirwahostelsperu.com