Today, in 1532, conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, or the ‘City of Kings’, for the Spanish Crown. It is even said that he marked out the main plaza with his sword, now the Plaza de Armas. Each year on the anniversary of that day, Limeños celebrate with a mixture of popular, religious and military events. Traditionally, a street parade is held in the morning and a mass at midday in the cathedral. Flowers are laid around the Pizzaro monument and a festival of folk dance, creole music and public videos is provided for the crowds. Fireworks close the show around midnight.
This year, more than 400 artists will participate in the celebration marking the 477th anniversary of Lima’s Spanish founding. “La Fiesta de Lima” will feature several artistic and cultural activities which characterize the diversity of the capital city: Performances by provincial bands, flamenco guitars and dancers, as well as Peruvian Paso horses make up just a small part of the bash. There will also be typical dances such as marinera norteña and limeña, vals, huaynos and chonguinada. To watch the marinera norteña and Caballo de Paso is reason enough to go! If you have never seen either, take a look at the videos below. The second video doesn’t really get going until about 40 seconds in, so be patient or zoom ahead!
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