Cortamonte or Yunza in Hualhuas - February 1968

A deep hole is dug in the plaza, the main square of the village of Hualhuas, and the "monte" the tree, planted in it.

...peruanisches Dorfleben...deine Impresssionen von dem einfachen Leben der Bevölkerung sind immer wieder sehr beeindruckend, Eva...

Danke, Erika.Ich hatte das Glück dass ich es zum kleinen Teil miterleben konnte.

das scheint mir ein gutes Fest ;-)

Ja, wie alle Feste, es wird viel getanzt, gesungen, gegessen und getrunken. Beim Cortamonte kann sogar "Geschenke" die am Baum befestigt waren, erhaschen.

What is the meaning of this celebration?

That is a very good question. I really have no answer to it, It seems a very old tradition of planting a tree, full of presents, then dancing around it and cutting it down. It is at the end of the Carnival time. Here, the carnival can take a whole month with all kinds of festivities, in the whole of Peru, on the coast, in our sierra (mountains) and also in the jungle.

In some areas, you have to go far to find a tree!
Can a cactus replace it?
:-))))

No, in this case not.The cutting down of the tree is the most important part of this feast. There is a whole ecological movement going on not to cut down trees, but as they can´t be replaced unless you plant new trees, it will take a while for people to understand.