Peru Holidays and Festivals

Peruvians have a variety of secular holidays. In addition, there are certain religious holidays that are celebrated regularly.

Each community or village has its own festival in recognition of the local patron saint. The communities celebrate their special days annually with fiestas that are often extravagant and costly to stage. The success of these fiestas requires a great deal of volunteer work on the part of community members. Financial support comes from festival sponsors known as ayordomos, who typically will be helped by other family members. Sometimes families even incur great debts to ensure a successful fiesta. These religious holidays are important celebrations of religious devotion, help affirm the community's identity and, on occasion, serve political purposes.

 

National holidays include the following:

Date	Holiday	Festival	Location
January 1	Año Nuevo New Year		National
February 2		Virgen de la Candelaria	Puno
February or March	Carnaval		National
March or April	Semana Santa		National, but most famous in Ayacucho
May 1	Dia de los trabajadores> Labor Day		National
May 2-4		Alarcitas Handicrafts Fair Dia de Santa Cruz	Puno
June	Corpus Cristi		National
June 24	Inti Rayni		Cuzco
June 29	San Pedro y San Pablo		National
July 16	La Virgen del Carmen		Cuzco and Lake Titicaca
July 28 - 29	Fiestas Patrias Independence Celebrations		National
August 30	Santa Rosa de Lima		Lima
September 24		La Virgen de la Merced	Puno
October 8	Batalla de Angamos		National
October 18	El Señor de los Milagros		Lima
November 1	Dia de Todos los Santos All Saints Day		National
November 2	Dia de los Muertos All Souls Day		National
Did you know? An important day on a Native Peruvian's calendar is November 2, the Day of the Dead, when spirits are believed to walk the earth again, visiting their relatives.
November 5	Puno Day		Puno
December 8	Dia de la Purísima Concepción Immaculate Conception		National
December 25	Navidad Christmas Day		National