Qoyllur Riti Pilgrimage

Qoyllur Riti (Star Snow in Quechua) is one of the most extraordinary events in the Andes: a mass pilgrimage to a glacier sanctuary high on the slopes of Nevado Ausangate, Peru’s fifth-highest mountain, held in the weeks before the Corpus Christi feast. Between 10,000 and 70,000 pilgrims make the journey each year, arriving on foot from communities across the Cusco region, Puno, and neighbouring Bolivia. The event blends pre-Columbian solar and mountain worship with Catholic devotion to a miraculous apparition, and at its core it remains a genuine act of faith rather than a spectacle designed for outside audiences.

The setting

The sanctuary sits at approximately 4,700 metres on the slopes of Nevado Ausangate, around 100 kilometres southeast of Cusco. The trek to the sanctuary from the trailhead at Mawayani takes three to four hours each way through high-altitude grassland. Snow and ice are present at the sanctuary site year-round. The terrain and altitude make this one of the most physically demanding pilgrimage events in South America.

The pilgrimage and its meaning

According to local tradition, a miraculous apparition of Christ appeared on the rock face of Ausangate in the 18th century. A sanctuary was established at the site, and pilgrimages began shortly after. The timing of the pilgrimage, around the Corpus Christi feast in late May or early June, also aligns with Andean ritual calendars for mountain worship (apu veneration) and the planting cycle.

Pilgrims travel in groups organised by their home communities, each led by ukukus - costumed figures wearing woolly masks representing a mythical bear-human hybrid who serve as guardians of the pilgrimage. The ukukus maintain order among the pilgrims and perform a ritual ascent to the glacier at midnight. Historically, they carried blocks of glacier ice back to their communities as a blessing for water and crops; this practice has been curtailed in recent years due to glacial retreat, though some symbolic elements continue.

Practical information for visitors

Qoyllur Riti is not a tourist event and does not have a visitor infrastructure in the conventional sense. There are no hotels, no formal catering, and no organised transport to the sanctuary. Visitors who attend do so by joining the pilgrimage. The following practical points apply:

• Physical fitness: The trek to the sanctuary at nearly 5,000 metres is serious high-altitude exercise. Do not attempt it without prior acclimatisation in Cusco (minimum five to seven days at altitude is advisable) and reasonable trekking fitness.
• Equipment: Bring warm layers, waterproofs, trekking poles, a sleeping bag rated to at least -5°C (temperatures drop well below freezing at night near the sanctuary), and headlamp. See our trekking guide for general Andean trekking kit advice.
• Transport: From Cusco, shared minibuses and organised tour transport serve the trailhead at Mawayani during the pilgrimage period. Journey time is approximately three to four hours.
• Respect: Visitors are guests at a living religious event. Follow the lead of pilgrims, do not photograph rituals without permission, and be aware that some areas near the sanctuary rock are restricted to community members.
• Dates: The pilgrimage timing is set by the Catholic feast calendar and varies year to year. In 2026 the main gathering falls on 19 to 20 May; confirm the exact dates before travel as they can shift by a day or two.