Pukllay or phukllay (

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

for to play, play / carnival, other spellings ''pucllay, pugllay, phujllay, pujhllay, pujllay, puqhllay'') is a traditional festival held in the central

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. The word "play" refers to either the clouds or the blossoms "playing" in the winds at the end of the rainy season and thus harvesting time. The Bolivian ''Pukllay'' is connected to the Christian carnival and the celebration of a battle won over the Spaniards – hence the appropriation of the Spanish helmets and spurs one can still see in the ritual dance. In March 2011, Bolivia nominated the ''Pukllay'' festival in

Tarabuco Tarabuco is a Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, th ...

(including the Ayarichi dance of the Yampara people) to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

for

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

recognition as part of the cultural and

intangible heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...

of humanity.

References

Culture of Bolivia Cultural festivals in Bolivia Culture of Peru Harvest festivals Folk festivals in Bolivia Native American festivals {{festival-stub