Trifter

Inti Raymi is the biggest festival for the Incans and is still being celebrated in Peru today. The festival has become more of a tourist attraction than a religious event for Peruvians. The festival begins in the plaza de armas in Cusco where actors perform a free performance for the guests. Offerings of corn (maize), chicha (corn beer), and coca leaves are given to the king. 

The Peruvian Government has tried to make the event a more profitable event by charging tourists 90 dollars for VIP Treatment to the festival. Ninety Dollars is an incredible amount of money for most Peruvians. To put things in perspective, a meal in Peru will cost around one dollar, a taxi ride will cost between sixty seven cents to a dollar, bread would cost 5 cents, and a stocking cap will cost about a dollar.

After the performance the spectacle moves above Cusco to Saqsaywoman. The tourists have great seats for the play and receive a ride up the mountain to the Incan ruins. The locals must climb the mountain on foot and watch the spectacle from a distant hill, but it is difficult to hear or see the performance. The surrounding hills are covered with the locals selling goods to the audience. They sell everything from potatoes, habas (type of bean), chicha, and even guinea pigs, a peruvian delicacy (to eat, not as a pet).

Before

During the 2008 celebration, the peruvian police blocked a hill near the performance because it was deemed dangerous and was an Incan Ruin site. The police blocked the hill that offered a better view of the performance to the locals and made the locals watch the performance from more of a distance. During the show the locals stormed the Incan ruins to get a better view of the performance. The annexing of the hill was a great sense of pride for the Peruvians as they were very frustrated with their government, believing, with good reason, that their leaders were corrupt.

Here is a video of the storming of Saqsaywoman:

http://www.kleep.com/nature/Weather/Inti-Raymi-Storming-Saqsaywoman.778127

After (on the forbidden hill)