Peru partners with Smithsonian Folklife Festival to showcase culture

For the 49th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Peru showcased its destination, diverse culture and travel experience to encourage tourism.

Last month and this month, Peruvian artisans took to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to display, explain and show guests 12 manifestations of the Peru culture, including processions, dances, musical concerts, theatre, poetry, culinary workshops and handcrafting lessons.

Peru is already a top destinations for U.S. tourists, according to the United States Tour Operators Association. A major Festival initiative was the construction of a rope bridge, or q'eswachaka. A pre-Inca tradition, the hanging bridge is woven over three days using raw materials by approximately 1,000 locals.

"We are so pleased with the success of Peru's partnership with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this year," Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Magali Silva Velarde-Álvarez said. "The festival gave us an opportunity to give festivalgoers a taste of Peru's cultural assets and hope they left the festival inspired to plan a visit to our country."