Blog Cultural de Cusco

Festivities, Gastronomy and Traditions of Cusco

Your complete guide to celebrations, typical dishes and ancestral customs

12+ Festivities

20+ Dishes

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Cultural Calendar 2025

Cusco Festivities

The most important celebrations that merge Inca tradition and colonial heritage

24 June 2025

UNMISSABLE

Main Holiday

Inti Raymi - The Festival of the Sun

The most spectacular Inca celebration of the year. Every June 24, Cusco dresses up to recreate the ancestral ceremony in honor of the Sun god (Inti) with thousands of actors in Sacsayhuamán. Declared a Cultural Heritage of the Nation, this event attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually.

Ceremony at Qorikancha 9:00 am

Plaza de Armas Parade 10:30 am

Sacsayhuamán Staging 1:00 pm

Thousands of actors participating

Sacsayhuamán, Cusco

100,000+ attendees

All day

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19 June 2025

UNIQUE

Religious Tradition

Corpus Christi - 15 Santos

Unique procession where 15 images of patron saints from different parishes converge in the Cathedral. A tradition that mixes Catholic faith with Andean elements and is accompanied by the famous 12 typical dishes of Corpus, the Chiriuchu being the most representative.

Procession of 15 patron saints

12 traditional dishes (Chiriuchu)

Folk dances and music

Unique Catholic-Andean fusion

Cusco Cathedral

12 typical dishes

All day

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9-18 June 2025

ANCESTRAL

Sacred Pilgrimage

Qoyllur Rit'i - Lord of the Snows

The most important pilgrimage in the Andes. Thousands of devotees ascend to the sanctuary of Sinakara at the foot of the snow-capped Ausangate (4,600 m.a.s.l.) in a unique spiritual ritual that fuses Catholic faith and Andean worldview. A transformative experience of faith and connection with nature.

Pilgrimage at 4,600 m.a.s.l.

Dances of Andean Nations

Snow Star Ritual

Thousands of devout pilgrims

Nevado Ausangate

Extreme altitude

Nightly ritual

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Authentic Andean Flavors

Typical Gastronomy of Cusco

The most emblematic dishes that combine ancestral ingredients with inherited culinary techniques

EMBLEM

Plato Insignia

Crushed guinea pig

The most emblematic dish of Cusco. Fried guinea pig with an ancestral technique that uses a flat stone to press it, leaving it crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It is served with golden potatoes, hot pepper and fresh salad. High protein value and unique flavor that you should try at least once. This traditional preparation has been passed down from generation to generation by Cusco families.

Traditional preparation with stone

High protein and nutritional value

Crispy whole guinea pig

Served with golden potatoes and chili pepper

Whole guinea pig

Optional spiciness

Local ingredients

POPULAR

Typical Breakfast

Chicharrón a la Cusqueña

Delicious pieces of pork with skin, fried to golden and crispy perfection. Typical Sunday breakfast served with mote (Andean corn), freshly baked Oropesa bread and Creole sarsa. History that dates back to colonial times and is still the favorite of the people of Cusco. On Sunday mornings, families gather to enjoy this traditional dish.

Fried cherry with crispy skin

Accompanied by mote and bread

Ideal for Sunday breakfast

Cusco colonial tradition

Pork

Oropesa Bread

Andean Mote

SPICY

Colonial Fusion

Rocoto Relleno

Rocoto pepper stuffed with ground beef seasoned with Andean spices, raisins, peanuts and baked gratin cheese. Perfect fusion of Andean and colonial flavors, served with a soft potato cake that balances the intense spiciness of the rocoto. A dish that challenges your senses and represents the richness of Cusco's mestizo cuisine. Rocoto is a typical chili pepper from the Andes with a considerable level of spiciness.

Chili pepper stuffed with meat

Baked gratin cheese

Served with potato pie

Andean-colonial fusion

Very spicy

Ground beef

Melted cheese

TRADITIONAL

"Raise the dead"

Cusco Marinade

Aromatic and deep pork stew marinated in chicha de jora (fermented corn drink), ají panca and Andean spices. Slowly cooked until tender and juicy. Perfect for overcoming hangovers, hence its nickname "raise the dead". It is served with warm Oropesa bread and is the favorite Sunday breakfast in Cusco. The unmistakable aroma fills the streets of the city from early hours.

Marinated in chicha de jora

Traditional slow cooker

Perfect with Oropesa bread

Typical Sunday breakfast

Marinated pork

Chicha de jora

Hot bread

ANCESTRAL

100% Andean

Olluquito with Charqui

Special dish with ingredients exclusive to the Andes: olluco (colorful Andean tuber) and charqui (dehydrated llama or alpaca meat). Nutritious stew that combines unique flavors of the Inca tradition with ancestral preservation techniques. Olluco is a tuber with a special texture that perfectly absorbs the flavors of charqui. It represents the authentic pre-Hispanic cuisine of Peru.

Andean tuber (olluco)

Llama or alpaca jerky

100% Andean ingredients

Inca conservation technique

Fresh olluco

Andean Charqui

100% natural

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