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Location

This feast is done every year in the colonial town of Paucartambo, at an altitude of 3,017 meters meters above sea level and 110 km from the city of Cusco, approximately about 4 hours from Cusco.

Date

Between the 15th and 18th of July of every year, thousand of believers and visitors come to celebrate the festivity of Virgen Del Carmen.

Here in Paucartambo, thousands of believers come together to celebrate the festivity of La Virgen del Carmen, also called Mamacha Carmen, The Saint for the Mulatos. The reunion starts in the main square of the town, where lots of bands play their instruments, while a chorus sings in quechua behind the band, they dance to the music and it all represents many faces in the history of Peru.

During the day the groups of dancers go around the whole town, everything turns colorful and very musical, the people that came to watch all of this become entangle with all the bands and mixing themselves between the community into a magic celebration.

The whole festivity last five days, and people from many different parts come to see this, there is also many different groups with costumes (Doctorcitos, waca waca, sajras) they all dance accompanied by the “Mamacha” during the tiem she goes around the main square and the town streets. “The Sajras” dancers go around doing some difficult and very risky dance moves through the ceilings of the houses, showing their costumes. At the end of the procession, they have a little war against the devils, in which the believers come out winning.

Finally it all ends with the “kacharpari” of end party.

Three crosses

Coming out of Paucartambo, a straight road ascends to the gates of Acjanaco (3.800 msnm) and the view point of three crosses, a sort of natural balcony facing the Amazon from which one of the most singular dawns of the world can be seen, produced by the optical effects of the sun that seems to glitter above the clouds which cover the tropical jungle.