When is the Candelaria festival in Puno and who dances?

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.