Colors, music & indigenous traditions

The Inti Raymi or "party of the sun and harvest" is one of the most important ancestral celebrations of the indigenous communities of the Ecuadorian Andes. The Inti Raymi is also the celebration of the solstice. Etiologically it means "the solemn resurrection of the sun".

Every June 22nd, during the summer solstice, families gather, they bathe in watersheds, toast and eat the traditional products, and share communal dances with Andean music. Men are dressed in leather and wool Andean chaps and colorful masks, they wear colorful handkerchiefs and other ornaments with vivid colors. Women are also amusingly costumed with embroiled blouses, bright green, yellow, purple and red skirts and "alpargatas" (traditional shoes) stepping over the land they honor in surreal dances. The festivity enhances the cultural, historical and natural treasure in the Andes.

Ingapirca is the most important Incan fortress in Ecuador. Special celebrations take place at this site during the Inti Raymi festivities.

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