Today I am going to talk about my favorite festival “The Inti Raymi” and I am going to let you

know many interesting things about this festival.

It is the most important festival in Cusco and it is also considered the second largest festival in
South America. This celebration takes place on June 24th of each year in Cusco, the imperial
city, where more than 100,000 people attend it.

The Inti Raymi is an ancient religious celebration of the Incas, where our ancestors worshiped
to their God "The Inti". A curious fact is that before the conquest of the Spanish, this festival
was called Wawa Inti Raymi and when our ancestors celebrated it, they performed dances and
animal sacrifices such as llama or sheep in gratitude to God Inti for the beginning of another
agricultural cycle.

But currently the objective of celebrating The Inti Raymi is to value, preserve and feel proud of
our Inca culture and also as all this turns out, the tourism in our country is expected to
increase.

The celebration begins, when the people gather at the Qorikancha temple and after the first
ceremony is held in that place, there is a parade where many people perform the dances with
traditional clothing and they make a journey to the main square where a handicraft contest is
held to promote traditional art in which thousands of people participate. In addition, you can
also find a gastronomic fair with native products of the region. And before the day is over,
people gather at the Sacsayhuamán archaeological park where the main ceremony takes place.
In this ceremony, some actors from Cuzco dress in typical costumes and they perform a
theatrical presentation to remember the history of Wawa Inti Raymi, the ancient ceremony.

I love festivals in general because they are very exciting, interesting and diverse but this one is
very special to me because through it we preserve part of our beautiful history that our
ancestors inherited to us, and it is also a unique experience where you can enjoy their
traditions and beliefs.

Unfortunately, I haven't had an opportunity to go to this festival yet, but I would really love to
go someday.