Yawar Fiesta: The condor, the bull and the blood.

Peru is a nation deeply proud of its independence, and readily embracing of its historical cultural heritage. Every year, like many countries who’ve gained their freedom from a former colonial power, Peruvians fervently celebrate. Independence day in Peru is July 28th, but celebrations have already begun and will last all week, with both the 28th and the 29th as official national holidays for the ‘Fiestas Patrias’. But in one remote corner of Peru, people from across the region of Apurímac and further a field are gathering to carry out a 200-year-old ritual celebration of Andean identity and independence. From Quechua, the largest native language of Peru, comes its name: Yawar Fiesta, the festival of blood.

The village of Ccollurqui is located in the province of Cotabambas, and will this Friday play host as it does every year to this unusual, unique and bloody bullfight. The people of Ccollurqui will begin by climbing up into the higher slopes of the Andes, to find and trap a condor. The bird is trapped by leaving a freshly killed animal carcass, usually a horse, in the open and simply waiting. The condor is not just a bird of enormous cultural and mythical value to the people of Peru and especially the Quechuan people, but also an important part of the region’s ecosystem and an endangered species. Once subdued, the terrified condor will be brought down from the mountains and into the bullring where it will meet its opponent.

The Yawar Fiesta. Courtesy of IMAB.

The giant and beautiful bird of prey is then firmly tied to the bull’s back, and the two are released into the bullring. The distressed and desperate condor fights to free itself. It’s talons dig deep into the bull’s back, and it pecks incessantly, enraging the bull with pain and anger as it fights back to free itself from the bird. It is at this point that people who had been watching become spontaneous matadors, jumping into the ring to challenge the bull with their ponchos. They continue, until the bull is eventually overcome by furious attacking of the condor. The real celebrations, often full of colour and fireworks begin, and in a weeks time, the condor will be released again, if it has survived. If it does not survive, it is a bad omen for the village.

The cruelty and inhumanity of this ritual is self evident, but the political and religious significance is great, and so to its local popularity. The mighty Andean condor, considered by Incan religion still practiced in the area as well as in other parts of Peru and Bolivia to be the incarnation of a God, defeating the Spanish conquistadors, represented by the bull. A potent symbol. There are efforts now and again to ban the Yawar Fiesta, but none have yet succeeded, and it may be many years before one does.

Sources/Links:
- Acupari
- YAWAR FIESTA! by Adrian Kreye
- International Movement Against Bullfights
- Vultures and Condors: Andean Condor
- CITES

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