Festivals in Cusco Peru 2025
Written by:Claire Dean
Last Update: 2025-06-25
June in Cusco marks the beginning of festival season in the region! From the very first day of the month of June, the streets turn into a swirl of color, dancing, traditional costumes, parades, local traditional fare, processions, and a generally party vibe! This culminates in the winter solstice festival and sacred Inca celebration of the world-renowned Inti Raymi festival. Don´t worry, though, the celebrations continue way into August around the Cusco region. These celebrations are a wonderful fusion of the ancient ancestral celebrations, catholic traditions with an Andean twist, and even some modern influences. These all come together in a cacophony for the 5 senses and a wonderfully insightful glimpse of real life in the Andes. Here is the best time to visit Cusco for festivals and what you can expect. We will break down festival season in Cusco, beginning in June, the “Jubilee month! to the beginning of August and Mother Earth Day. Every day is not only a party, but also a peek into centuries-old Andean fiestas that are still a living and breathing important part of Andean culture today.
Inti Raymi Festival
Cusco Festivals Timetable 2025!
June 1: The Official Opening of The Cusco’s Jubilee Celebrations
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: 10:00 AM
What to Expect: The month-long celebrations of Cusco’s Jubilee Festival begin with a patriotic ceremony honoring the city’s heritage and cultural identity. The local municipality does a procession of the Peruvian national flag and the iconic rainbow-colored Cusco flag. They depart from the Municipal Palace and head to the center of Cusco - the Plaza de Armas.
Led by representatives of the 5th Mountain Brigade, municipal authorities, and cultural entities, the event features marching bands, civic honors, and the ceremonial raising of the flags in the main square. It’s a moment of pride for Cusqueños and marks the spiritual and cultural beginning of an important month filled with dance, traditions, history, and pride. The day finishes with a traditional Andean ceremony giving thanks to the Pacha Mama (Mother Earth).
Cusco Festivals!
June 6 -11: School Folklore Parades
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: From 9:00 AM
What to Expect: Local school children perform traditional dances in vibrant, colorful costumes. Kind of like an ancient “dance off! This is something they prepare all year for! Schools take this very seriously as it is a way of maintaining the cultural traditions of the region.
Inti Raymi in The Plaza de Armas
June 8: The Q’eswachaka Folkloric Festival and Bridge Building Ceremony
Location: Quehue District, Canas Province
Time: 9:00 AM – Parade
What to Expect: This colorful festival celebrates the ancestral cultural pride of Q’eswachaka. This village is famous for the last hand-woven Inca rope bridge. They ceremonially rebuild this bridge every year. The day begins with a vibrant parade called a pasacalle. Local communities gather to honor Cusco and ancestral heritage, featuring traditional music, dances, and costumes. This festival is once a year and celebrates the authentic Andean identity and traditions held in the stunning highlands of Quehue. This is one of the most unique traditional festivals in Cusco
Qeswachaka Bridge
June 13: Qoyllur Rit’i Pilgrimage
Location: Streets of Cusco
Time: Afternoon
What to Expect: Pilgrims meet in the Plaza de Armas and other central points to walk to the Ocongate Community. This community is in the highlands of the Ausangate region, and pilgrims will walk from Cusco for the celebrations. The party gets going on the 15th of June in 2025, and the pilgrims walk 160 KM /100 miles for this iconic festival that blends Andean spirituality and colonial Christianity. , Every year, devotees head to the sacred glacier to pay homage to the image of the Crucified Christ. According to tradition, this image has remained imprinted on a rock for generations. This religious festival weaves together cultural, spiritual, and traditional expressions. Year after year, believers make their way toward the snow-capped Ausangate Mountain, revered as one of the most important Apus (sacred mountain spirits) considered a protector of Cusco. The Qoyllur Rit’i pilgrimage celebrations last for 3 days, however, they may go on for weeks, depending on the organizing group from Ocongate!
Qoyllor Riti Festival Goers!
June 16: University Parade
Location: Avenida El Sol to Plaza de Armas
Time: 9:00 AM–1:00 PM
What to Expect: Cultural University parade with students from the National University of San Antonio Abad. Celebrations include floats, music, costumes, and dance. The creativity of the students is represented in their elaborate giant statues and figures – a sight to behold!
University Parade in June
June 18: Entrance of Saints for Corpus Christi
Location: From San Francisco Plaza to the Cathedral
Time: All day
What to Expect: Corpus Christi Cusco is where 15 of Cusco´s patron saints are carried by devout Catholics from their parishes to the Cusco Cathedral. These giant (and heavy!) saints and virgins of each Cusco church are accompanied by brass bands, dancers, and devotees from all four corners of Cusco in a vibrant, musical procession.
Corpus Christi Celebrations
June 19: Corpus Christi Main Procession
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: Begins at 1:00 PM approx..
What to Expect: Today is the central event of Corpus Christi Cusco. 15 saints and the Virgins are paraded around the Plaza de Armas, accompanied by bands and devout believers. After the ceremony, the saints return to the cathedral once more, where they will stay for 1 week!
Corpus Christi Saint Carriers
June 20: Secondary School Parade
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: 9:00 AM–2:00 PM
What to Expect: Now it is the turn of the local high schools to perform. Each school competes with their chosen dances, often with comical or political themes. (Or both!)
Cusco Parades
June 21: Winter Solstice & Sound-and-Light Show
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: Cultural show at 2:00 PM; light show at dusk (6:00 PM)
What to Expect: Celebrations of the Andean New Year on the winter solstice. This includes live music in the Plaza de Armas with traditional and modern music, dances, and a dramatic light show.
Cusco Fireworks!
June 22: Parade of the 13 Provinces of Cusco
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: 9:00 AM–2:00 PM
What to Expect: This celebration is a coming together of the different delegations from Cusco's provinces. The parade is a spectacular way of showcasing the different regional dress, music, and cultural identity from all over the Cusco region.
Cusco 13 Provinces Parade
June 23: Civic Day Parade
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: Bells ring at 7:30 AM; parade starts at 9:00 AM
What to Expect: Civil and public institutions of Cusco march around the Plaza de Armas to honor the city as a form of respect.
Cusco Civic Parade
June 24: Inti Raymi -The Festival of the Sun
Cusco’s most iconic and world-famous celebration!
Location: 9:00 AM – Qoricancha Temple: Opening ritual by the Inca priest.
10:30 AM – Plaza de Armas: Inca meets with city leaders, delivers messages.
1:30 PM – Sacsayhuamán Fortress: Grand finale with rituals, music, offerings, and theatrical reenactment of the Inca empire.
What to Expect: Inti Raymi is one of the most famous festivals in Cusco, Peru, and is an all-day celebration. The main ceremony at Sacsayhuamán begins around midday. You will see dancers in traditional Inca dress, Inca priests, nobles, and the Inca in ceremonial procession, offerings to the Pacha mama and Inti - the Sun God, music with ancestral instruments like “pututos” (giant conch shells) and “quenas” (wooden flutes).
Important* Tickets required for seating at Sacsayhuamán. You can see the Inti Raymi celebrations at the Koricancha and the Plaza de Armas for free!
Inti Raymi Festival of The Sun
June 26: Octava de Corpus Christi
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: 2:00 PM
What to Expect: A week after Corpus Christi Cusco, the saints and virgins leave the Cusco Cathedral. They have a final procession around the plaza, then they return to their respective churches in the different parishes of Cusco.
Amazing Costumes at a Cusco Festival!
After a brief pause in the festivities, Cusco once more gets into the festive spirit!
July 15–17 – Virgen del Carmen Festival (Paucartambo)
Location: Town of Paucartambo (4 hours from Cusco)
Time: Jul 15: Dance troupes and processions begin
Jul 16: Main procession of the Virgin del Carmen
Jul 17: Farewell and symbolic battle between good and evil
What to Expect: One of Peru’s most dramatic and energetic religious festivals. Virgen del Carmen festival, Cusco is a 3-day festival that takes place in the town of Paucartambo, 2 hours from Cusco. It features masked dancers, fireworks, and even a colonial theater. The festival is in honor of the Virgin of the community, who is thought to protect the town. Many devotees claim to have received miracles or protection through her. Her statue is paraded through town to bless people, livestock, and crops.) An elaborate and almost theatrical expression of Cusqueño identity and storytelling through dance, music, and costume.
*Important: Transport and accommodation in Paucartambo must be reserved well in advance.
Virgen Del Carmen Festival in Paucartambo
July 28: Peruvian Independence Day
Location: Plaza de Armas
Time: 8:00 AM – Special mass in the Cathedral, followed by a parade.
What to Expect: Peru´s national day! This is a national holiday with flag-raising, military parades, and patriotic ceremonies. In Cusco, “Fiestas Patrias” is a mixture of patriotic ceremonies and local Andean flair. Though quieter than prior June’s festivities, Cusco adds its own traditional touch, blending history with Cusco´s proud Andean identity.
Military Parade in Cusco
August 1: Pacha Mama Day
Location: Throughout the Cusco region. In homes, markets, rural communities, plazas, and businesses.
Time: Sunrise ceremonies and all-day blessings.
What to Expect: Pachamama Day is one of the most sacred days in the whole Andean calendar. Pacha Mama Day is celebrated every August 1st, which is the beginning of the Andean agricultural new year. This is why it is local custom to honor the Mother Earth (Pachamama) with rituals and ceremonial offerings. To ask Mother Earth for health, fertility, prosperity, and abundance for the upcoming year. In the Quechua worldview, everything in nature is alive, interconnected, and deserving of reciprocity (ayni). August is seen as a “hungry” month for the earth, when she needs to be fed spiritually to remain in balance.
Families and communities bury small gifts for the Pacha Mama, such as coca leaves, corn, wine, sweets, huayruros (sacred red and black seeds from the jungle), llama fat, and chicha (fermented corn beer). Shamans and elders perform rituals with incense, prayer, and the burning or burying of the offerings, asking for an abundant year ahead.
Payment to The Mother Earth Ceremony
Why You Should Visit Cusco Between June and August
From June through early August, the Cusco region in the Peruvian Andes completely comes alive. As a visitor, you can experience a magnificent display of culture, color, community, tradition, and devotion. One long continuous celebration of ancient traditions, living customs and ways of true life in the Andes.
From the pinnacle at Inti Raymi, to the heartfelt devotion of Qoyllur Rit’i, the dazzling dances of Paucartambo, or the patriotic pride of Fiestas Patrias, each of the Cusco festivals offers a unique glimpse into the heart and soul of the Andes. Enjoy music-filled streets, overflowing plazas with dancers in traditional dress, an explosion of color, aromas, and tastes for all palates. Every Cusqueño community, from remote villages to historic city centers, welcomes visitors with open arms. This season in Cusco offers something truly remarkable. The opportunity to experience living history and to feel part of a jubilant community rooted in its Inca past. It allows you to connect with a culture that continues to thrive through rituals and rhythm, and experience a time when spirituality and celebration intertwine. Cusco travel from June to August is one of the most vivid, authentic, and amazing times to visit the astounding festivals in Cusco, Peru!
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