Add Cusco Region & Cusco City holidays to the Peruvian national calendar and you have more holidays than seems possible. Incan and Catholic holidays have established traditions but international versions of holidays like Halloween have now been adapted to create unique Cusqueñian celebrations.

Cusco celebrates all Spanish Catholic holidays, including Saints’ days. If every day is a Saint’s day, that means that literally every day of the year is a holiday. Schools and churches each have their own saint, which gets its own celebration, including parades and fireworks.

Another wonderful thing about Cusco is how enthusiastically they celebrate every holiday. The plaza fills, traffic snarls as streets in the historic center are blocked off for parades and about half the population appears in costume. There is a dance festival for Andean dances in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas June 9, 12-14.

There are hundreds of shops in Cusco that rent traditional outfits and masks from various regions of Peru so that Cusqueñians can dress up for every festival.

You will hear fireworks every day in the city of Cusco, often in the morning. It takes some getting used to, but be reassured you’re not hearing gunshots.