La Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen de Paucartambo represents a much larger celebration that pours into the small town of Paucartambo, Peru, every July to honor the town’s patron saint, the Virgin Mamacha Carmen.

Wherever you stood on the Folklife Festival grounds, the Q’eswachaka Bridge was always noticeable, drawing diverse crowds and intrigue.

Kukama is a “deeply endangered language” (according to the Endangered Languages Archive) spoken in the city of Nauta in the Peruvian Amazon.

During an evening concert at the 2015 Folklife Festival, Peruvian singer Julie Freundt dedicated this tondero song to José Antonio, the first breeder of the Peruvian Paso horse.

This potato dish covered in a creamy yellow sauce, served alongside a hard-boiled egg, lettuce, and olives, derives its name from the town of Huancayo, where many of the ingredients grow abundantly.

As I walked around the Festival, my legs almost took on a life of their own, forcing me toward the Afro-Peruvian Music and Dance tent, where the sound of the resonating cajónes intermingled with intricate guitar figurations and the powerful yet warm voice

Only July 2, the 2015 Folklife Festival welcomed a special guest to the Perú: Pachamama program: two-time Latin Grammy winner Susana Baca.

Stroll down the streets of Monsefú along the northern coast of Peru in July, and you are bound to catch a scrumptious whiff of garbanzos con pavo horneado.

Now that the Folklife Festival is over, I had time to visit The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian.

The Perú: Pachamama program at the 2015 Festival featured a group of traditional weavers from the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco, including Timoteo Ccarita Sacaca, a Cusco native.