In the month of December every year, the city of Cusco recreates one of the most important and genuine manifestations of its identity. The Plaza de Armas in the city of Cusco will become the scene for the Santurantikuy festival, a typical fair that mixes religious beliefs, folk art, historical memory, and the community in the same place during the days of December 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, with the celebration commonly known by the name feria Santurantikuy.
The streets are filled with colors, smells, and festive sounds. Whole families are walking along the booths, artists are carefully designing their handmade goods, and the whole city is living in a different rhythm, dictated by the sense of waiting and the spirit of Christmas. An experience in Santurantikuy is much more than an event; it is a shared experience in which one should be living in a state of serenity, respect, and deep sense of belonging to the most characteristic tradition in Santurantikuy Cusco.
Contrary to many Christmas markets in the world today, Santurantikuy is not an activity born out of commercial or tourist motivations. It is a living tradition that is deeply imbedded in Cusco’s reality, in which Christmas celebrations are experienced from an Andean perspective, filled with symbols, spiritual connotations, recognizing in Santurantikuy Peru a faithful expression of Christmas in an Andean context.
