Festivities Calendar

JANUARY

- 6 Fair of Alacitas (Miniatures)

This is a festival featuring the sale of miniatures, in the form of personalities and household objects. It takes place in the town of llave. In Aymara language, Alacitas means'buy me', and that is precisely what is done at this fair, where the most sought after character is the Ekeko, the fat guy, considered as a sort of God of fortune who "carries" the dreams of the people who buy him.

- Third Thursday,

Tribute to Mother Earth Festival

(Pacha mama and Pacha Tata) This is an Andean ceremony i honor of Mother Earth, which is celebrated on the island of Amantaní , where the participants eat, dance to the beat of the pinkullus (wind instrument that resembles a flute but bigger in size) and make offerings.

FEBRUARY

- 2 Virgin of the Candlemas Festival

This is the most important religious festival in Puno, where parishioners hold banquets, masses and a colorful procession. Within the scope of the festival, there is a dance contest, in which 60 to 80 groups participate each year. It is related to the pre-Hispanic cycles of planting and harvest.

- Movable Traditional Carnival

The Carnival season in Andean areas is market by its festivities. The tree cutting ritual or yunza, where a tree full of presents is artificially planted, around which the people dance until they bring it down by cutting it with a machete or axe, is the most characteristic part of the festival. The couple giving the final blow to the tree are automatically related to each other and made responsible for the organization of next year's festival.

MAY

- 2 Festival of the Cross

Every year on this day, the District of Huancané honors the Cross of Mount Calvary. The Square of the Cross is the meeting place for many crosses arriving from the neighboring communities with their respective delegates. Following this happy encounter, there is a procession leaving, moving to the rhythm of the sikus (type of squared flutes that resemble a zampoña) until reaching the Church of Santiago Apóstol , where the crosses spend the night, to continue with the party on the next day.

- 3 International Fair of Alacitas (Miniatures)

This is another fair organized to market miniatures, this time held in the City of Puno , with visitors from the city and from Bolivia . As in the case of the town of llave, the most popular object here is the Ekeko, which, after being bought, is blessed together with the rest of the miniatures, so that they can make their new owners'dreams come true.

JUNE

- 21 Aymara New Year

This is an interesting event celebrated in the Distric of Unicachi and Ollaraya, in the Province of Yunguyo . The nearby archaeological site of Inti Uyo, -where one can find monoliths engraved in anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes, such as monkeys and pumas, and in the shape of the sun is the place selected each year to celebrate the Aymara New Year. During this fest, the participants sacrifice a llama os similar animal, in payment to the earth and the sun.

JULY

- 26 Patronal Fest of St. James Apostle

This is held in the Towns of Huancané, lampa and Pomata from the previous day. Worshippers of St. James Apostle celebrate masses and processions, and they dance to the music of the sikus (type of squared flutes that resemble a zampoña) and zampoñas (different flutes put together). There are also amusing bullfights.

OCTOBER

- 24 Anniversary of Juliaca

Local residents commemorate this anniversary with a school, civic and military march on the Main Square , and with the election of Miss Juliaca at the Municipal Theatre.

NOVEMBER

- 1-7 Puno's Tourism Week

The main activities of this special week take place in the City of Puno , with a handcrafts and trade fair, and a veried program, which includes a colorful exhibition of native dances from the Peruvian altiplano.

- 5 Scenes of the Legend of manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo

According to the most famous and wellknown legend on the creation of the Inca Empire, Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo emerged from Lake Titicaca to look for the most suitable place to found the capital of the Tahuantinsuyo. During the scene of the legend, which is played every year, the mythical couple leaves one of the islands of the lake on a rather large raft, arriving in the Port of Puno, where they are met by a delegation, who take them to the place where a ritual ceremony is held, in the company of dance and musical groups from nearby communities.