Almudena Celebrates this Month
September is a month of feasts in Cusco. Everyone goes to visit to see the Virgin of the Nativity’s feast She is located in district of Santiago. The central day of the feast is the eighth of September.
There are 30 comparsas that accompany the Virgin Naty in her celebration. Musicians, sponsors of the feast, and dancers arrive from all over Peru to pay homage to the Virgin of Nativity. The entire population of Cusco goes to the district of Santiago to celebrate the feasts of Almudena.
Beautiful women, brave men and tender children go out into the streets of Almudena to delight people with their attractive rhythms. The costumes that these people wear are not cheap at all. They get their costumes made for more than a thousand soles. That’s why people who have devotion to the Virgin work very hard during the year. They want their costumes to stand out above all the people present.
After seeing the whole dance show that really moves people people, everyone goes to the Almudena cemetery. In there, the people responsible for each comparsa are found. Night comes and everything becomes an outbreak of happiness. Each person in charge of a comparsa brings their own bands to bring the fiesta to an end with glory.
You cannot miss the gastronomy. It alone is a main event. You will find crispy chicharrones are pulled fresh from the hot oil. They are accompanied by his fried potatoes and the typical salad of mint with onion and mote.
In the cargoes, the building rented by the sponsors of the feast, the meals are more concentrated. Before the dancers go out to dance, they fortify themselves with an incredible soup of chairo, with all the standard ingredients, just enough so that typical soup that has a very simple name, also has a very pleasant taste. Then, at noon they serve lechón (roast pork), Cusco’s classic chiriuchu and other typical main dishes of the city.
In these fiestas a little bit of everything happens. Many times two persons are arrowed struck by the arrows of love from the Virgin of Nativity. Alcoholic beverages are abundant as always. Thousands of cases of Cuzqueña beer is consumed by all the faithful followers.
Every year the tradition grows and more and more people from all over come to Cusco for the event. the faithful devotees are increasing and the Virgin of Nativity awaits each year calm and unhurried from her home in the Almudena church.
In this fiesta, I noticed an endless number of beautiful colors, beautiful smiles, and beautiful costumes that captivated me completely. That was just the beginning. I then visited all the cargos. They were filed with love, harmony and joy . I was proud of being from Cuzco and delighted with these traditions that contain an endless number of joys.