Festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria

The festival

It is Peru's largest cultural event: for more than two weeks in February, Puno, the country's folk capital perched at 3,820 meters on the shores of Lake Titicaca, dance for its "Mamacha" Candelaria. In 2014, the festival merges Catholic devotion and Andean cosmovision Quechua and Aymara. After the novenas opened on January 24, February 2, the central day, sees the Mass and procession of the Virgin.

Then come the two major competitions of the stadium Enrique Torres Belón: the indigenous dances of rural communities on the first Sunday, and the sumptuous competition of "trajes de luces" the second — diablada, morenada and corporals in the lead. In total, about 170 ensembles and 40,000 dancers and musicians.