Carpets of Semana Santa - Antigua, Guatemala Easter Festival

The carpet designs reflect Maya tradition, biblical symbolism and scenes from nature. The art of carpet-making is thought of as sacrificial because of the intense detail and amount of time dedicated to their creation, only to be destroyed once the processions pass.

For nearly a decade, we have shared this culture-rich event with our travelers on our Guatemala Easter Festival trip. It is a trip is designed coincide with Semana Santa and filled with spirituality, artistry, tradition and infectious energies. Want to go?

Christmas Market in Dortmund on Europe Cruise

The magic happens aboard a Danube river cruise that includes stops at multiple famous cities, including Nuremberg, which hosts one of the most well known Christmas markets in Germany. Travelers are able to combine a Europe river cruise with holiday cheer and try delicious treats, peruse traditional handicrafts, and taste mulled and spiced wines in these old world cities. It is a truly unique way to experience the local flavor of the holiday spirit, and be romanced by the culture and traditions of old world Europe. If you tend to arrange your travel last minute, you will want to make arrangements soon, as cruises of the Christmas markets in Europe sell out far in advance.

Join us this July to celebrate Machu Picchu's Centennial Celebrations. Photo by Adventure Life traveler, John Keller

To experience the once-in-a-lifetime celebrations this July, there’s still time to join our exclusive Machu Picchu 100th Anniversary Trip. Follow in Bingham’s footsteps with Adventure Life’s local guide, Marcos Palomino. In addition to Machu Picchu, we’ll visit Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Chinchero, a village known for its rich weaver heritage, handicraft market, and white-washed colonial church. The trip is topped off with a special ceremony with a local shaman.

Intricate carpets line the streets in Antigua during the Easter celebrations

Adorned in purple robes, cucuruchos march the streets of Quito during Good Friday

Guatemala Easter Festival
Antigua, Guatemala is home to the largest Easter celebration in the world in which the Passion, the Crucifix and the Resurrection of Jesus are commemorated. The procession is rooted in Andalusian tradition and was brought over by Spanish missionaries in the 16th Century. The entire city takes part in the event and travelers from around the world come to experience the energy of Holy Week.

I invite you to experience one of our most popular culture-rich itineraries, our Guatemala Easter Festival. Arrive in Antigua in the middle of the festival, when the streets come alive in celebration of this Holy Week. This itinerary is designed to coincide with the Easter festivities in colonial Antigua, but also offers so many other opportunities to discover Guatemala. Journey into the highlands and explore the commanding temples and other remnants of the Mayan past. Wander through rows of vendors at Chichi’s magnificent market, and spend a few nights along the shores of the volcano-fringed Lake Atitlan.

One of the most impressive aspects of the Easter Festival in Antigua are the “carpets” that adorn the processional route. Residents along the streets begin preparations weeks and even months in advance creating these beautifully intricate offerings. Sand is first laid to level the cobblestone, followed by sawdust that has been collected and dyed to bright shades of red, yellow, blue, purple, green and black. Pine needles, flowers and native plants are also used for decoration and fragrance.

The carpet designs reflect Maya tradition, biblical symbolism and scenes from nature. The art of carpet-making is thought of as sacrificial because of the intense detail and amount of time dedicated to their creation, only to be destroyed once the processions pass.

This trip exceeded our expectations. Going to Antigua at Easter (Holy Week) is a treat of a lifetime. – R. Popkin, Easter Festival 2010

Quito Easter Festival
New for 2010, our Easter Festival in Ecuador celebrates Holy Week in Quito including the great and colorful procession of Good Friday which takes its 90,000 participants wending through the streets of Quito’s Old Town. The hooded cucuruchos are a distinctive feature in the procession. Dressed in purple robes from head to toe, the cucuruchos symbolize the penitents who are displaying not only their repentance, but also their will to change. During our two night trip during Semana Santa, enjoy the best views of Quito’s central square, Plaza de la Independencia.

The celebrations begin on Monday with a costume and dance contest. Puno’s Virgin of Candelaria festival is one of South America’s most significant, rivaling Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and Bolivia’s Carnaval de Oruro. Take a quick look into last year’s event.

Stay at the Mansion Dandi Royal during your time in Buenos Aires and get immersed in the tango culture.  The Tango Festival is a public event that brings portenos (term for citizens of Buenos Aires) and international tango enthusiasts together  (term for citizens of Buenos Aires) for two weeks of celebration, concerts, tango shows, and lessons between Aug 13-31, 2010. Contact us for more details, and if you can’t make it next month, this is an annual event that we plan on celebrating each year.

Tango Festival in Buenos Aires - Image from Kallpa Tours

Adventure Life Bolivia Trip honored as a Tour of a Lifetime

Kicking off with Carnaval de Oruro, Bolivia’s most spectacular festival, this journey immerses you in local rituals that are still part of everyday life, such as baking bread in a traditional adobe oven at a working hacienda and shopping at the Tarabuco Market, where even the younger generation dons traditional ponchos, sandals, and headgear. There’s action, too: Explore the salt desert and cap your trip with a climb up the 16,500-foot volcano Tunupa.

A highlight of this trip is the Oruro Festival; a sensational event. The folklore festival finds its roots in Christian traditions and indigenous myths and deities. The festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil displayed in the form of dances and music. Each costume, each gesture, each character, color, and movement are symbolic in this carnival. This thirteen day trip also includes time in La Paz, Sucre, Tarabuco Market, Hacienda Candelaria, Potosi and the spectacular Salt Desert of Uyuni.

Cusco, Peru is full of festivities

Check out Jerome's photo album of his Peru trip

What a back drop! Read Kathy's journal.

Debbie Lester sent this posting recently about her families experience at Inti Raymi. Thanks Debbie!
PS Adventure Life has special departures each year that include VIP seating at the event – spaces book up early!

My trip to South America would not have been complete without visiting Cusco, Peru during the Inti Raymi, the festival of the Sun.

Every year on June 24th Cusco comes alive as the second largest festival in South America takes place. Hundreds of thousands of people travel from all over the world to attend the re-creation of the ancient Incan religious ceremony.

The winter solstice was once the most important date on the Incan calendar. Native residents came together to honor the Sun God, because this was the time of the year when the sun was farthest from the Earth. They believed that the lack of sun would ensure famine and they gathered in order to coax the Sun God to return. They sacrificed animals and feasted to ensure good crops and fertile lands.

In 1572 the festival was banned as being too “pagan” and contrary to the Catholic faith. But, the celebration of the Sun God continued underground. In the 1940′s the Inti Raymi, was re-invented as a way for Andean’s to recapture the spirit and values of their ancestors.

Today the celebration has undergone many changes. The Inti Raymi, is now a week long festival celebrating the new year and culminating on June 24th with a reenactment of the ceremony. Each day of the week long celebration has events from daytime expositions and street fairs to night time free concerts featuring some of the best Peruvian musicians around.

During the preceding year over hundreds of people are chosen to carry out the reenactment of the winter solstice ceremony. This is the center piece of the festival taking place on June 24th. Dressed in full regalia the ceremony proceeds from the Santo Domingo Church all the way to the ruins at the ancient fortress of Sacsayhuamn. Speech’s are given and a stage act representing the sacrifice of a llama is done. The priests are then said to read the blood stains in order to see the future of the Incan empire.

There are some things to remember if you decide to make Inti Raymi a part of your South American adventure. The festival takes place the week of June 24th every year. The ceremony itself is an all-day event, lasting around 5 or 6 hours. The vibrant colors and beautiful re-creations of the ceremony make for wonderful photographs.

You must book hotels and reservations very far in advance due to the large amounts of people who attend the festival. You don’t want to be stuck with no where to stay. Entry into the fortress is free and there are food and drink vendors. But, there are no guard rails around the ruins and several people are injured each year, so you have to be careful of your surroundings and the push of the crowds. It is also sometimes hard to see due to the huge crowds. If you want to see the structures and the Incan building methods you can buy a visitors ticket which is valid for ten days and gets you into fourteen important sites in Cusco.

Attending the Inti Raymi festival in Cusco is a very educational trip where you are able to see one of the great Incan religious ceremonies. You can view Incan building methods and see how the Andean people give honor to their ancestors. It’s one of those activities that you will remember for a lifetime.