Every day of the 2015 Folklife Festival, the very traditional sounds of Peruvian mandolinas and charangos were often overpowered by the electric guitars of Los Wembler’s de Iquitos.
During an evening concert at the 2015 Folklife Festival, renowned percussionist Alex Acuña showed his native Peruvian musical influence in a jazz fusion flurry.
Matteo Valderrama Piminchumo shares his Peruvian communities' tradition of woven reed rafts called caballitos de totora.
Peru Gozando, a folk band based in Falls Church, Virginia, returned to the Folklife Festival for a special Community Day performance.
Behind every great dance is a rich and complex history. The danza Sarawja, presented at the 2015 Folklife Festival, exemplifies the mix of Spanish and pre-Inka traditions in Peru.
The Wachiperi were easy to spot at the 2015 Folklife Festival, in their hand-painted, hand-cut cushmas, beige tunics stretched from the fiber of tree bark.
During the Community Concert on the last day of the 2015 Folklife Festival, vocalist Rosario Sonia Goyoneche Narciso led the Afro-Peruvian group Tutuma.
Katya Canto and her sister Blanca have dedicated their lives to maintaining the Peruvian tradition of mate burilado, or gourd carving. Such gourds are intricate stories, recounting daily life in Cochas Grande
Peruvian singer Dayan Aldana, now based in Centreville, Virginia, performed at the 2015 Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s Community Days, honoring the changing traditions of Peruvians in the United States.
To celebrate the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s Peru program, my aunt Isa and my uncle Lucho were kind enough to work through a couple of Lucho’s family recipes on a recent stormy evening.