by Barb Hickey

Created on: February 19, 2009   Last Updated: March 18, 2012

My family and I spent several weeks in South American last summer and one of the highlights of our trip was attending the second largest and most famous festival in Peru. The Inti Raymi Festival is an annual majestic pageant that is held on June 24 every year in the beautiful and historical city of Cusco, Peru. The festival honors Apu Inti Tayta, the Sun God of the Incas. June 24 signifies the winter solstice and is considered to be the most important date of the year. Peruvian legend tells the story that Apu Inti Tayta's children, Manco Capac and Mam Ocllo were created from Lake Titicaca and founded Inca Dynasty and Cusco.

This splendid festival recreates the glorious and historical Inca rituals. The main event last for about five hours and takes place in Sacsayhuaman Palza near Cusco. Thousands of native Incas, dressed in their traditional costumes, recreate the original ceremony that honors Apu Inti Tayta, the Sun God. The Inca God is transported from the Temple of the Sun to the center of the city. Then, the festival reenacts the sacrificing of two llamas. This is truly a reenactment and no llamas are harmed during the festival. The Inca traditions are that the llamas were used to predict the events of the coming year. Inca dancers dressed in brilliant red and gold entertain the tourist and signal the close of the event. The official ceremony ends at sundown, but the real celebration is just starting and will last for days.

We arrived in Cusco on June 20 and the festivities were already underway several days before the main pageant. There were main events happening in the Plaza de Armas. Every day there was a different street parade to watch. My children loved watching the parades and buying traditional looking Inca items for the many street vendors in the plaza. The restaurants that line the plaza are delicious and most of them serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We found a great restaurant with a balcony and the kids had a great view of the parades. The parades seemed to last for hours and the kids never got tired of seeing all of the beautifully colored costumes. Some of the parades even had floats with Inca dancers performing as the parade made its way through the plaza. A few of the traditional masks were a little scary for my younger son.

We have a teenager daughter who was adopted from Peru and The Inti Raymi Festival was a great way for her to experience the culture of her birth country during our trip to South America. If you are planning a trip to Peru or South America, it is well worth it to plan your trip around this once a year magnificent festival.

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