Inti Raymi
Cusco - June 24

This is the most majestic pre-Hispanic ceremony to render homage to the sun. Today, the Inti Raymi festival evokes the splendid Inca ritual of yore, being carefully scripted by Cusco professors, archaeologists and historians.  The central event is acted out on the esplanade below the imposing fortress of Sacsayhuaman, 2 km outside the city of Cusco.

There, step-by-step, thousands of actors enact a long ceremony giving thanks to Inti, the Sun God. The Inca ruler is borne on a royal litter from the Koricancha, or Temple of the Sun to the Huacaypata, the city's main square, where he commands the local authorities to govern fairly. Then all participants set out for Sacsayhuaman, where the ceremony calls for the sacrifice of two llamas, one black and one white. With the llama's entrails, two high priests make predictions, which are interpreted by the Willac Umo, the lord high priest, who bears the news to the Inca.

Finally, at sunset, the Inca orders all to withdraw from the site, and the entire city breaks out into a festivity that will rage for several days.

San Juan
Cusco, Loreto, San Martin, Ucayali - June 24

Because of the importance of water in the jungle, Saint John the Baptist has taken on a major symbolic significance as a vital element in the entire Amazon region. This is why June 24 (Saint John the Baptist's day) is the most important date on the festival calendar in the entire Peruvian jungle.

The city of Iquitos hosts a variety of festivals and public events: fiestas with typical local bands where cooks dish up some of the regional cuisine, featuring tacacho (baked banana) and juanes (rice pastries), named after the patron saint, San Juan Bautista.  In Cusco, where peasant farmers used to bring their richly decorated sheep to Mass, the tradition has been shifted to June 25, yielding to Inti Raymi.

Saint Peter & Saint Paul
Chorrillos and Lurin (Lima), San Jose (Lambayeque) - June 29

Together with the communal task of dredging irrigation ditches, highland communities celebrate a veritable water festival. On the coast, fishing communities have chosen Saint Peter as their patron saint, and render him homage in Limas fishing districts of Chorrillos and Lurin, as well as in San Jose, located 13 km north of the city of Chiclayo.

Corpus Christi
Cusco - Moveable festivity

This festival has been celebrated all over Peru since colonial times, but reaches a high point in Cusco. Fifteen saints and virgins from various districts are borne in a procession to the Cathedral where they "greet" the body of Christ embodied in the Sacred Host, kept in a gold goblet weighting 26 kilos and standing 1.2 meters high.

Sixty days after Easter Sunday, members of each nearby church bear their patron saint in a procession to the chimes of the Maria Angola church bell. At night everyone gathers together for an overnight vigil. At dawn, the procession sets off around the main square, bearing the images of five virgins, plus the images of four saints: Sebastian, Blas, Joseph and the Apostle Santiago. Then the saints enter the Cathedral to receive homage.