Cusco’s Most Festive Month – June, 2025

June 2025 in Cusco:

Celebrate the City’s Most Festive Month

If you’re thinking of visiting Peru, June is the best time to experience the magic of Cusco. The city comes alive with colors, music, traditional dances, and a spiritual energy like no other. From ancient rituals and dazzling parades to delicious food festivals and religious processions, June in Cusco is a one of a kind celebration of culture, history, and joy.

Here’s a guide to the top festivals happening in Cusco in June 2025, during its most celebrated month of the year:

Highlight Events in Cusco – June 2025

June 8–11: Q’eswachaka Bridge Reconstruction.

This is not just a bridge—it’s a living piece of Inca engineering. Every year, four communities in the Canas Province gather to rebuild the Q’eswachaka Bridge by hand using traditional techniques and natural materials like ichu grass.

The event begins with a sacred Pago a la Tierra (offering to the Earth) ritual. Over the next three days, they dismantle the old bridge, build the new one, and celebrate with traditional music, food, and dancing. It’s a moving display of community, spirituality, and ancestral knowledge.

June 10–23: Traditional Dance Parades

Across the streets and squares of Cusco, workers from public and private institutions throughout the region come together to express their love for the city and their Inca heritage through vibrant traditional dance parades.

These dances have roots that go back to Inca times and even earlier!

Each day, dozens of groups perform elaborate choreographies wearing stunning costumes that represent the origins, myths, and cultural stories behind each dance. Get ready to experience an explosion of color, live music, and an atmosphere filled with pride and tradition.

These parades are the perfect lead up to Inti Raymi, the grand celebration of the Sun Festival, which fills the city with rhythm, joy, and one of the most iconic moments of Cusco’s June festivities.

This year, the parades will take place in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas on the following dates:

• June 10: Early childhood education institutions
• June 11: Primary schools (Highly recommended)
• June 12: Secondary schools (Highly recommended)
• June 13: Higher education institutions
• June 14: Universidad Tecnológica de los Andes
• June 15: Peruvian Journalists Association and media organizations
• June 16: National University of Fine Arts “Diego Quispe Tito” (Giant mobile sculpture parade – Highly recommended!)
• June 17: Universidad Andina del Cusco
• June 18: National University of San Antonio Abad of Cusco
• June 19: Inca Garcilaso de la Vega Educational Institution
• June 22: Parade of the 13 provinces of Cusco
• June 23: Civic parade featuring private institutions from across the region

June 15–18: Festival of the Lord of Qoyllurit’i

Over 60,000 pilgrims, dancers, and musicians hike to over 4,600 meters above sea level to honor El Señor de Qoyllurit’i, a sacred image of Christ painted on a rock at the Sinakara glacier.

With a mix of Catholic and Andean beliefs, the festival includes music, mythic characters like the Ukukus (half-man, half-bear guardians), and rituals beneath the stars. It’s one of Peru’s most spiritual and profound celebrations.

June 19: Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi in Cusco is one of the most solemn and awe-inspiring religious celebrations in the region.
Fourteen statues of Catholic saints and virgins are brought from different churches across the city in a grand procession to Cusco’s Cathedral. Devotees accompany the march with music, fireworks, and offerings, transforming the Plaza de Armas into a vibrant spiritual and cultural epicenter. It’s a powerful blend of Catholic devotion and Andean tradition—filled with incense, splendor, and deep emotion.

Cusco is surrounded by traditional neighborhoods, many of which were founded by the Spanish when they arrived. Each neighborhood is dedicated to a Catholic saint, for whom a church was built in that area. On the day before the main event, June 18, these sacred images are taken from their temples and paraded through the streets toward the Cathedral. The families responsible for this task, known as mayordomos or Carguyocs, carry out this duty with deep devotion.

The procession is filled with dances, live bands, joyful crowds, and bursts of color, turning the streets into a unique celebration that unites faith, culture, and community.

After spending the night in the Cathedral, the 14 images are carried out once again the next day for a second procession around the Plaza de Armas. Each family, along with the Carguyoc, musicians, carriers, and dancers, accompanies their statue in a heartfelt display of tradition and pride.

When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Cusco, capital of the Inca Empire, they sought to evangelize the native peoples by imposing churches, images, and Catholic rituals over their ancestral traditions. At that time, they observed a sacred Inca procession in which mallquis—mummified remains of former rulers—were paraded around Huacaypata (now the Plaza de Armas) with music, celebration, and chicha, a traditional fermented corn beer.

To replace this ancestral ceremony, the Spanish instituted the Corpus Christi procession, which continues to this day—still carrying echoes of Andean heritage merged with Catholic belief.

June 19: Chiriuchu Food Festival.

On the same day as Corpus Christi, just a few blocks west of the Plaza de Armas, San Francisco Square hosts one of Cusco’s tastiest traditions: the Chiriuchu Food Festival.

The name comes from the Quechua words chiri (cold) and uchu (spicy stew or chili), literally meaning “cold and spicy.”

This iconic dish dates back to colonial times and is linked to the mita, a labor tribute system first used by the Incas and later by the Spanish crown.

Under the mita, men were required to work on public infrastructure, agriculture, or mining as a form of tax. At lunchtime, workers would share a single plate of cold food prepared by their families thus giving birth to chiriuchu.

The dish itself is a unique cold combination of guinea pig, chicken, cheese, seaweed, fish roe, corn, and sausage, typically served with a crispy corn tortilla.

Locals and tourists gather in San Francisco Square to enjoy this deeply rooted Cusqueñan delicacy. Dozens of stalls compete to win your taste buds, each offering their own version of chiriuchu under colorful tents.

If you’re a food lover, this is the perfect day to indulge!

June 19: Chiriuchu Food Festival

Also on June 19, just a few blocks from the main square in San Francisco Plaza, locals gather to enjoy Chiriuchu, Cusco’s signature cold dish made with cuy (guinea pig), chicken, cheese, corn, seaweed, and spicy rocoto pepper.

It’s a must-try for food lovers visiting the city during this time!

June 21: Andean New Year

While the Southern Hemisphere marks the winter solstice, Andean communities celebrate the Andean New Year, a spiritual moment of renewal and hope.

During this celebration, families offer tributes to the Apus (mountain spirits) and Pachamama (Mother Earth) in gratitude for the blessings of the past year and to ask for a prosperous and abundant new cycle.

These offerings are carefully prepared and include wrapped symbolic gifts such as sweets, grains, coca leaves, toys, rose petals, and other meaningful items—all laid out with deep respect and devotion on a ritual mesa (offering table).

Later, these offerings are buried in sacred sites, accompanied by Quechua chants and heartfelt prayers. The ceremonies are led by Paqos or Altomisayocs, spiritual guides and modern-day Andean priests.

At sunrise, in sacred places like Sacsayhuamán and the Temple of the Moon, traditional ceremonies take place, filled with coca leaves, fire, and Andean music.

This beautiful festival in Cusco, held every June, is a chance to reset your intentions and celebrate life with deep spiritual connection.

June 21: Night of Lights and Sound.

On the night before Inti Raymi, Cusco lights up with fireworks, concerts, and a spectacular sound and light show in the Plaza de Armas.

This magical night brings together locals and tourists for an unforgettable celebration.

June 24: Inti Raymi – Festival of the Sun.

The Crown Jewel of June Festivities: Inti Raymi

The crown jewel of all the June festivals in Cusco is, without a doubt, Inti Raymi, or the Festival of the Sun. This ancient Inca celebration honors Inti, the Sun God and the most important deity in the Andean worldview, during the winter solstice.

The day begins at Qoricancha (the Temple of the Sun), with a public performance full of traditional dances, music, and the appearance of the Cápac Inca, the Inca ruler. Since this part is open to everyone, it’s highly recommended to arrive early to get a good spot and enjoy the ceremony to the fullest.

The celebration continues in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas, where the mayor receives a blessing from the Cápac Inca for prosperity and well-being in the coming year. The entire square comes alive with colorful costumes, music, and joyful energy creating a vibrant and festive atmosphere.

As with Qoricancha, it’s best to arrive early or book a table at a nearby restaurant to enjoy the event comfortably with a good view.

The day culminates in a grand theatrical reenactment at the Sacsayhuamán fortress, where more than 700 actors bring Inca rituals to life in traditional attire. The Cápac Inca and his royal court take center stage in this stunning open-air performance that draws thousands of spectators from around the world.

For this main show, tickets can be purchased through the Municipality of Cusco, which guarantees seating in one of the three grandstands set up in the Sacsayhuamán archaeological park.

If there’s one festival in Cusco that’s truly worth planning your trip around, it’s Inti Raymi—an unforgettable experience that transports you to the glorious past of the Inca Empire.

June 26: Chiriuchu Octave.

Didn’t get enough of Cusco’s most iconic dish? A week after Corpus Christi, locals gather once again in Plaza San Francisco for the Chiriuchu Octave.

This is the perfect grand finale to the original food festival—a second chance to indulge in the flavorful mix that defines Cusco’s culinary identity.

Don’t miss it especially if one plate wasn’t enough the first time!

Celebrate Cusco in June 2025.

June in Cusco isn’t just a month for vacations—it’s a true cultural immersion. With a packed calendar of spiritual pilgrimages, mouthwatering food, spectacular dances, and ancestral rituals, each day invites you to connect with the deep Andean roots of Peru.

If you’re planning a trip, make sure to mark these dates in your calendar and get ready to experience the unforgettable celebrations that make Cusco truly magical in June.