La Candelaria de Puno

The festival at a glance

what

Dancing in the streets and in the stadium, where groups perform in turn before a jury: as well as a festival it is a contest. The best-known dance is the diablada, with devil masks with horns, bulging eyes and light bulbs. From any street, at any hour, one brass band approaching and another moving away.

when

February. The Virgin's day is 2 February; the dancing spreads over more than two weeks. UNESCO's listing has it running 1 to 15 February.

where

Puno, a lakeside city at about 3,800 metres.

who

Some forty thousand dancers and several thousand musicians in more than a hundred groups, by the piece's reckoning; UNESCO describes rural and urban residents of the Puno region belonging to the Quechua and Aymara peoples, and emigrants who come back for it.

why

Nobody dances for money. People dance for a promise made to the Virgin, and the promise usually lasts years.

• The festival is of the Virgin of Candelaria, whose day is 2 February; the dancing extends over more than two weeks.
• Some forty thousand dancers and several thousand musicians take part, in more than a hundred groups; groups dance in the stadium before a jury.
• Practitioners are rural and urban residents of the Puno region belonging to the Quechua and Aymara peoples; emigrants from Puno often return to take part.
• People dance for a promise made to the Virgin, not for money, and the promise usually lasts years; a complete costume can cost more than a small car.

La fiesta es de la Virgen de la Candelaria, cuyo día es el dos de febrero, aunque el baile se extiende por más de dos semanas.

The festival is of the Virgin of Candelaria, whose day is the second of February, although the dancing spreads over more than two weeks.

No hay bailarín que baile por dinero: se baila por una promesa hecha a la Virgen, y la promesa suele durar años.

There is no dancer who dances for money: people dance for a promise made to the Virgin, and the promise usually lasts years.

Lo que se oye desde cualquier calle, a cualquier hora, es una banda de bronces que se acerca y otra que se aleja.

What you hear from any street, at any hour, is one brass band coming closer and another moving away.

Catholic and Andean, without asking permission

The festival mixes the Catholic and the Andean without asking permission of either. UNESCO, which inscribed it in 2014, describes a main festival that opens with an early-morning mass and an ancient purification ceremony, a procession carrying the Virgin's image through the streets with music and dancing, two contests, three regional federations of practitioners who organise it, and rehearsals and craft workshops where dance, music and mask-making are passed to the young.

Puno received the listing as a victory, because Bolivia maintains that the diablada is Bolivian, and the matter has reached the foreign ministries more than once. Both countries are right, in the awkward sense that the border is younger than the dance.

• UNESCO inscribed the "Festivity of Virgen de la Candelaria of Puno" on the Representative List in 2014.
• The main festival begins with an early-morning mass and an ancient purification ceremony, followed by a procession; two contests bring together several thousand dancers and musicians; three regional federations organise it, and skills are passed on in rehearsals and craft workshops.
• Bolivia maintains that the diablada is Bolivian; Peru and Bolivia have taken the dispute to their foreign ministries more than once.
• The festival mixes Catholic feast and Andean symbolism.

La fiesta mezcla lo católico y lo andino sin pedir permiso a ninguno de los dos.

The festival mixes the Catholic and the Andean without asking permission of either.

En 2014 la Unesco la declaró patrimonio cultural inmaterial de la humanidad, lo que en Puno se recibió como una victoria.

In 2014 UNESCO declared it intangible cultural heritage of humanity, which in Puno was received as a victory.

Los dos países tienen razón, en el sentido incómodo de que la frontera es más joven que el baile.

Both countries are right, in the awkward sense that the border is younger than the dance.

Words of the festival

a orillas de

on the shores of

el danzante

the dancer (in a traditional dance)

los ojos saltones

bulging eyes

ahorrar

to save money

el auto

the car

los bronces

the brass instruments

la cancillería

the foreign ministry

Cada febrero, Puno deja de ser una ciudad tranquila a orillas del lago y se convierte en la capital del ruido.

Every February, Puno stops being a quiet city on the shore of the lake and becomes the capital of noise.

Un traje completo puede costar más que un auto pequeño, y muchas familias ahorran todo el año para pagarlo.

A complete costume can cost more than a small car, and many families save all year to pay for it.