Calendar Of Festivities Of Cusco

Calendar of Festivities in Cusco
GOOD FRIDAY
In many cultures has traditional fasting as a ritual. In their truly festive style, the Peruvian
people FEAST instead of fast! Good Friday is actually the most celebrated day in Semana
Santa, much moreso than Easter Sunday. Most businesses are closed and the Peruvians are
all at home with their families feasting upon their Doce Platos – 12 special traditional dishes
(excluding red meats) representing the Twelve Apostles!
Q’OYLLURIT’I – The Snow Star Festival – coincides with the full moon at the end of
May/beginning of June
The ancient Inca used the Southern Cross constellation, visible in the Southern Hemisphere,
as a guide as to when to sow and reap their crops. In April, this constellation disappears
under the horizon, and to the Inca this symbolized a time of chaos. With the full moon in
May/June, the Southern Cross constellation reappears on the horizon and the Q’oyllurit’i
festival was originally in honor of this, bringing order again to their world. However, in 1780 a
miraculous image of Christ appeared on a huge rock in the Sinakara Valley (15-16,000 feet
above sea level) where the festival is held. The rock has since been embellished and had a
church built around it. Christ is now considered by many to be the “Lord of Q’oyllurit’i”, and
this celebration is considered to be the largest pilgrimage of indigenous nations in the
Americas, with tens of thousands of people (many estimate 70,000) making the pilgrimage
during the 4 days that it takes place 8 kilometers outside of the town of Mawayani, at the
foot of Ausangate Mountain (21,000 feet elevation). There is a fascinating ritual held by
“ukukus” – the Quechua word for “bear”.