Peruvian celebrations

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Popular celebrations are the product of every town's traditions and legends. These celebrations gather music, dances, meals and typical drinks. In addition to the religious celebrations like Christmas, Corpus Christi or Holy Week, there are others that express the syncretism of the indigenous beliefs with the Christians'. An example of this kind of celebration is the Alasitas (an Aymara word that, according to some, means "buy me") which combines a crafts and miniatures fair with dances, meals and a mass.

[edit] Amazonas Region

[edit] Los pastorcillos de Navidad

The celebration of Christmas in Chachapoyas is unique in Peru and incomparably because of the presence of its tender and innocent protagonists: the children of the city.

At the dusk of December 24th, the choirs of little shepherds start going out from the different churches. They walk around the town intoning Christmas carols. For such a reaons, two children's columns are formed and in the middle of them, the "shepherds" and the "Three Kings", properly characterized, go.

The girls are dressed with a skirt adorned with colorful ribbons, a blouse with spangles and a handkerchief crossing their breast. The hat with shining adornments and ribbons that hang backwards. The hat wing is elevated in its front part. All the children are provided with tambourines and timbrels that they wave to the rhythm of the dance, which music is executed by the band that accompanies them. Closing this courtship goes the sacred image of Child Jesus in a portable platform led by four girls completely dressed in white. When they arrive to the front door of the church, where the crib is, they put the sacred image of Child Jesus in the manger between José and Maria in the middle of many gifts that the shepherds and the Three Kings have earlier deposited. Later they continue with the singings and dances during "the vigil", until it comes the moment of the Holy Mass.