Yamparaez Carnival

This was a lovely local festival. It has only been running for four years so foreigners were made very welcome and I was invited into the centre of the circle around the offerings to take my photos. Everyone came in dancing to their band in groups to lay their offerings under the big structure which was made up of offerings of Empanadas (Cornish pastry type food), sides of beef, fruit of all types, bread, bottles of Coke, Sprite. The groups were divided into villages and further divided into work groups. An area was cordoned off into a circle to keep the crowds of spectators back. People watched from the outside circle and also from the hills as the ceremony was held outside the village of Yamparaez. I was fed bread and some strange heady alcohol and invited to dance which I did. The first sip of the drink is split on the ground for Pachamama (Mother Earth). The tune is the same so every band plays the same tune whether it be a brass band or a set of pan pipes. Occasionally there was a singer who sang in strange high pitch wail.The locals would eat and drink and dance until the early hours of the morning