Cuzco’s Huancaro Fair opened today and will continue through the weekend. Producers from throughout the Cuzco region and, in some cases, from other parts of Peru have come to show their agricultural products to a general public and to compete with each other.
In addition, the various projects organized by the regional government, such as those in improving kiwicha (amaranth), or in cattle raising, set up booths to discuss their activities an how to improve Cuzco’s agricultural offering.
Here you can see a wide range of native potatoes and different broad beans, as well as varieties of livestock. There will also be rides, song, and dance, as well as booths offering Cuzco’s culinary heritage.
The opening ceremony included a demonstration of Paso Fino horses to the sounds of a Marinera from Peru’s north, as well as folk dance from Cuzco’s regions. If nothing else, this fair is a great place to come and appreciate the diversity of regional dress worn in the traditional communities and valley towns of Cuzco.
The fair, that is like a classic state fair in the US, is held in the traditional fairgrounds of Huancaro, in suburban Cuzco. It is a fifteen to twenty minute taxi ride from downtown and will get you far away from tourist Peru.
