Inti Raymi sun festival returns to Peru's Andes with vibrant ceremony

In the heart of the Peruvian Andes, the ancient ritual of Inti Raymi returned in full colour and ceremony. Hundreds of actors, many of Indigenous descent, reenacted the sun festival near Cusco on Wednesday, beneath the stone ruins of Sacsayhuaman. Once a sacred site of the Inca Empire, it still draws thousands every solstice.

Dressed in elaborate robes, actors portraying the Sapa Inca and his queen, the Coya, led symbolic offerings to the sun and the earth: spilled chicha and a staged llama sacrifice.

Banned in the 16th century, the celebration survived underground. Today, narrated in Quechua, Spanish and English, it bridges past and present with both reverence and pride.