Christmas in Peru and Bolivia

Those of you traveling through Bolivia or Peru during the holiday season will notice that Christmas here is quite different than in many other places. Firstly, it falls in summertime and, in the Andes, the rainy season. Rather than ubiquitous Santa Clauses on every corner and in every shopping mall, there’s the live-action neighborhood nativity with real animals and people.

As for homes, the range of nativities is impressive, from plaster boxes to hollowed out and painted gourds, but exterior decorations are not as popular, although you can find festive displays along the cities’ main streets and central plaza. In Bolivia, baby Jesus will be removed on the Epiphany (Jan 6^th) and taken to mass.

In Lima, during the week before Christmas, there are celebrations and concerts throughout the city’s parks and plazas. The one you don’t want to miss is the HSBC Christmas show in historic San Martin Plaza:

In both Peru and Bolivia, the big day is Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas day, with the traditional Christmas Eve dinner. The streets fill throughout the day with families carrying the Christmas baskets provided by employers- generally large plastic tubs filled with flour, rice, sugar, cooking oil, a chicken, sparkling cider, milk, and chocolate. Those who aren’t carrying baskets are carrying roasting pans as they take their chicken or turkey to or from the neighborhood ovens.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Cusco for Christmas Eve, you’ll want to head to the Plaza de Armas as well. There, in the final days before Christmas, the Santurantikuy (Saints’ Sale) fair pops up. Peru’s largest folk art fair is a lively affair thanks to the food and drink vendors which pop up. In the years directly following the Spanish conquest of Peru, the fair mostly sold nativity figurines, especially the Niño Manuelito (Enmanuel, the child Christ, who legend holds appeared to Andean peasants) in many different variations. The most traditional incarnation is that of a child sitting in a wooden chair with one foot raised, exposing a wound where those making a wish can insert a thorn which won’t be taken out until the wish is granted. Nowadays, you can find pretty much anything at Santurantikuy: woven goods, leather handicrafts, ceramics, wood and stone carvings, silverwork, paintings and sculptures. Don’t miss it, but beware pickpockets in the crowds as there will be many people. (I should mention as well that if you’d like to stay right in Cusco’s main square, check out Pirwa Posada del Corregidor.)

At midnight, the fireworks begin throughout Peru and Bolivia, accompanied by firecrackers, sparklers, roman candles, and miniature sticks of dynamite known as mata suegras (mother-in-law killers). The explosions throughout the Plazas and in front of most homes, with little to know control, is one of the biggest surprises for unwary tourists. With hundreds going off all around you, some at very close range, it can all feel a little war-zone, but in the end it’s a unique memory to take home with you. The following day most of Peru’s cities look like ghost towns, and it can be difficult to find open restaurants and stores. In La Paz, however, work goes on and the city bustles the same as ever.

Traditional Christmas Treats- What to Try!

Picana: In Bolivia, Picana, a spiced soup made of chicken, beef, and corn, is eaten traditionally on Christmas day. We serve it in Pirwa La Paz during our Christmas Eve dinner!

Tejas & Pisco from Ica: These products from Peru’s Ica region are present at many celebrations- pisco brandy for toasting and tejas candies for gift-giving

Hot Chocolate & Panetón: Throughout Bolivia and Peru, Christmas is synonymous with hot chocolate and panetón. Yes, it’s fruitcake. Yes, the “fruit” comes in gummy candy form…and yet, the ubiquitous, aromatic panetón is surprisingly tasty and habit-forming. Come next year, you’ll be craving it….