Every year in July, Cuzco and the whole country dress up in red and white, the colors that symbolize the peruvian flag These are called the fiestas patrias, or the fiestas in honor of the fatherland. On the 28th we celebrate out independence. From several days before people will be parading around the plaza de Armas in honor of our country.
All of our social institutions will decorate their buildings with flags, chains of paper in red and white, word, ideas, and murals of our independence. These are symbols that refer to the month of the homeland.
From the smallest to the oldest people vibrantly live these holidays with their hand over their heart. Our schools carry out activities to honor the country. They perform plays and songs for the patriotic month. Houses also pit up a cloth flag on the highest part of the house so that we know it is the feast of the country. The red and white replace the wiphala, a rainbow of colors, symbolizing Cusco that flew in May when we celebrate our city and department.
The major institutions of our city parade in the main square. They raise their feet high and hold their hands on their heart to show they are proud of our country. The melodies of the parades are performed by the band of Peru’s army, as well as the national police band, and the bands of a few schools such as Garcilaso de la vega, the National School of Sciences (Ciencias), and the young women’s school called Educandas.
The ceremony begins with the raising of the flag of Peru, what we call the Iza de la Bandera. At this time the national anthem is performed. All the authorities of our city and region are present on the reviewing stand and the citizenry of the country watches.
People come to see the military parade. All the units and corps of our national army parade displaying their abilities. All around the Plaza de Armas you will see armaments, vehicles and equipment moving by.
The best is to see the rescue squads, the canine corps, the police of tourism, the motorcycle police, and more. They parade by with courage and people feel happy out of love for their country.
In this way people experience strong feelings for their country with a few days of festival, holiday, and celebration. Because they do not work these days they can enjoy them in their family. If they do not go to the main square they can follow everything in the media.
Of course this celebration does not just take place in Cuzco. It is found all over the country, even in remote communities. It is also lived very intensely in the nation’s capital, Lima. We get to see their parade and celebrations by television. In sum this is a great and thrilling event for us peruvians.
