Seasonal Fruit Fair

Saturday, June 9th, 2012 at 12:59 pm

Drinking Coconut Milk

By Walter Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)

“Coconut, coconut.,” The Vendors shout out. “Sugar cane. Pomegranate. Buy some casero. Take some home with you. I will give you some extra.” These are the voices that follow you as you snake through the aisles among piles of fresh fruit and sugar cane. This week there was a fruit festival outside the market and it will return next Thursday for the octava, the eighth day, of Corpus Christi.

Every day one can find lots of fruit in San Pedro. But during the festival, more venders arrive with much more fruit to meet the demand. They also bring special fruit that is seasonal, such as pacay, pomegranate, and different varieties of oranges.

Nevertheless, sugar cane and coconut are the principal items bought according to tradition at this time. Even though the Corpus Christi traditions include the dish chiriuchu, music, dance, processions, and theater, one should not forget that the people of Cuzco consume lots of fruit this time of the year. For that reason a festival is offered to celebrate them.

When the festival was in place earlier this week, so many people came that you could hardly move through the aisles. It is worth putting this festival on your calendar for next Thursday. Nothing is better than fresh fruit.

Here is the photo essay taken by Walter Coraza Morveli.