The Distribution of The Bread Baby and The Bread Horse in The Cathedral of Cusco: A Tradition Before The Feast of All Saints
Every year in the city of Cusco, after the mass on the last Sunday before November 1, which is the date on which all Saints’ Day is celebrated, a feast for the whole church and an opportunity for all the people to thank God for all the kindness and blessings he pours out on us. This day, the traditional bread baby is distributed in the case of girls and horse bread in the case of boys.
They are named after the shape they have: a bread baby looks like a baby wrapped in a blanket and horse bread looks like a horse mounted by its riders. They are delicious breads made from wheat flour and to make them more striking they are decorated with sweets and masks.
Each year at this feast, these loaves are given from parents to children, from grandparents to grandchildren, from godparents to godchildren, from uncles to nephews.
The Cathedral of Cusco is also part of this celebration because after the Sunday Mass on November 28, in the morning, before local people and many tourists the wawa (baby) and horse breads will be given out to children according to their gender as a way to remind people that the feast of all the saints is coming and prepare for it.
Really it was beautiful to see the joy in the eyes of the children, to receive their loaves as part of this tradition that takes place every year outside the Cathedral of Cusco, which is the prelude to this great fiesta which in passing is a holiday from work.
