Inti Raymi Parades in Full-Swing (all day every day for three weeks straight)

Members of a dance studio get together to perform 

on Thursday, June 16. 

In the weeks leading up to Inti Raymi, there are parades and dances basically all day long every day. Every day the parades are filled with different sorts of participants. For example, on Friday, June 10, there was an all day long parade of grade-school aged children (see earlier video-post in this blog) from different schools in the Cusco area. Another day's parade was for University students from various programs. Another day's parade was created for members of various workplaces to get together and dance. Each group of participants usually gets together daily in order to practice. People generally start practicing about a month before their parade takes place. People take this very seriously. The photos in this post are comprised of a combination of children from the parade for grade-school children that took place on June 10 and of the parade for university students that took place on June 17th. These are just descriptions of 2 days of festivities that last for over 3 weeks. 

May 22, day of arrival in Cusco

I arrived in Cusco, unintentionally, at the perfect time. This weekend in May marks the start of an epic month of parades and festivals which lead up to Cusco's most important holiday, Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun). The  parade on this day was dedicated to The Day of Pachamama, honoring the earth goddess. The parade was comprised of about 20 different groups of people and each group represented a particular community within or around Cusco. Also, each community has its own costume and dance that has been carried down through countless generations of tradition.

The vast majority of people in the Cusco area are descendants of the Inca and hold close to the culture and customs of their ancestors.