Carnival in Cajamarca
February 2, 2008
It’s carnival time in Cajamarca!!
…a period of song, dance and water fights. This carnival is known to be the most wild in the country and perhaps the second most famous on the continent after the one that takes place in Brazil. Whether a sunny day or not, dressing for rain would be a very good idea – expect to br drenched in buckets of water.
Caravales in Cajamarca
To the people of Cajamarca, carnaval is the most important time of the year. Christmas, birthdays, Easter, independence day all pale in comparison… it’s on everyone’s mind year long, and the days are counted down agonizingly slowly.
Cajamarca’s carnival songs are a particular hallmark of the event and are usually extremely risqué, very funny and sung to pleasant simple melodies. These songs are listened to year-round by locals looking forward to the next carnival season.
I couldn’t possibly leave the city without buying some CDs of the most popular songs, including one CD from the famous Grupo Pallay.
Here’s a sample…
The Cats of Parque Kennedy
Ancón
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@stuenperu yo queria ir este año
via Twitoaster
” … and perhaps the second most famous on the continent after the one that takes place in Brazil.”
I would say that Oruro definitely is more famous than Cajamarca Carnival, and is a much bigger event. I love living here in Peru, but for Carnival I would prefer to be in Bolivia..
@stuenperu matarina, matarina, matarina de algodón ?
via Twitoaster
[...] February is over, it is finally safe to come out of hiding and explain how carnival is celebrated in Peru. While Brazilians are building floats and flailing around, most Peruvians have to look over their shoulders. I have to mention Brazil because to most foreigners, the word carnival is synonymous with Peru’s largest neighbour. It may come as a surprise to many though that carnival is a big deal in Peru too – in fact, the next biggest and best carnival experience in the Americas is hosted in the north of the Andean country, in beautiful Cajamarca. Here the hugely anticipated event is the local population’s reason for being – and you can’t blame them, read about it here. [...]
[...] a certain death if the driver should make a mistake was eased by the driver who played dozens of carnival CDs. Rather that worrying at each turn, we were instead smirking as each verse was [...]