The Fiesta Continues – A Four-Day Fiesta of the Virgen de Carmen in Pisac, Peru

Pisac knows how to party non-stop

Four days – from July 15 to July 18, 2012 – of Fiesta kept Pisac in nearly constant movement.

Masked dancers in Pisac

Dancing - which involves jumping over a whip

Procession in the Plaza

The Fiesta began with a horse race. The second day, each of the 20 comparsas (dance troupes) displayed their fine apparel in processions through the town. The third day, the central focus was the dances – beginning at 12 noon, each comparsa showed off their fine footwork. The dance displays continued well into the evening.

Masked dancer awaiting his turn to dance

The fourth day was the day of tricks. Each group had their tricks and the most popular is always the Ccollas. The Ccollas spend all day stealing things throughout town. Rumor had it they stole a motorcycle and a street vendor’s cart. All day, you heard whispers throughout town about what would be for sale at their end-of-day auction, where you could buy a stolen item.

Day and night, crowds gather in the Plaza to watch

The Plaza is a beautiful site for the processions

Just after nightfall on the last night, around 6pm, a large crowd gathered in the plaza to participate in the auction. The Ccollas danced around, talking in their squeaky voices, offering up hats, scarves, backpacks, bottles of beer, soda, a baby stroller, and even an orange construction cone. I wasn’t quick enough to get anything. But, my 8-year old daughter, Raymi, managed to get something right at the end. She offered up “20” for a bottle of water and gave the Ccolla 20 cents. He laughed and let her keep it.

The evenings of the Fiesta of the Virgen de Carmen are always full of drinking, dancing, and music. The last night is also full of tricks. Another group carried a coffin throughout town and threw liquid at people if they got too close. One woman told me it was chicha – corn beer. Another told me it was urine. Either way, I was glad it didn’t get on me. Another group danced around and put hot pepper on people’s faces. Soraya, my 11-year old daughter, was unfortunate enough to get some hot pepper on her upper lip. It burned for quite a while.

Reading from the "bible" as part of the last-day tricks

The kids had a blast during the last night of the Fiesta. We went to bed early, but heard the music going on well into the night.

Dancing in the Streets.

Colorful dancers everywhere

Masked dancers in the Plaza

The dance competition draws a big crowd in the Plaza