In 1944, Faustino Espinoza Navarro (a Quechua scholar) and Humberto Vidal Unda executed a historical reconstruction of the Inti Raymi Cusco. Faustino Espinoza was a founding member of the Peruvian Academy of the Quechua Language and he recovered fragments of the ancient Inti Raymi from the Royal Commentaries of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (1612), creating the first theatrical script.
“I wrote the script for 600 actors, and I had the privilege of being the first Inca portrayed, which I represented with great pride for 14 consecutive years,” says Faustino Espinoza. The ceremony is currently celebrated on June 24th, the day of Cusco and the Day of the Indian throughout Peru. From this moment on, the Inti Raymi becomes a public festival with great tourist attractions. One can come and enjoy the Inti Raymi festival 2024 and visit Machu Picchu, the Wonder of the World.
Humberto Vidal Unda, accompanied by Quechua scholar Faustino Espinoza Navarro, initiated and promoted the historical recovery of the Inti Raymi.
Faustino Espinoza wrote the script and also played the role of the Inca, based on the references left by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, reviving the celebration of the Inti Raymi as a public event of great cultural attraction.
On January 8, 1944, it was established that the celebration of the day of Cusco and the Inti Raymi would be on June 24th of each year. The first celebration was held in the presence of the then President of the Republic, Manuel Prado Ugarteche.
The officialization of the Inti Raymi and the Festivities of Cusco as a holiday was achieved through decree law 21860, promulgated on June 7, 1977, by the then General Francisco Morales Bermúdez, which declares June 24th as a non-working holiday in the department of Cusco.
Vidal Unda, historian, philosopher, and writer, the year after rescuing the Festivities of Cusco with the Inti Raymi, became mayor of the Imperial City, as well as exercising the presidency of the American Institute of Art and other cultural entities.
With nearly 70 years of celebrating the Inti Raymi, this is the most important activity of the so-called Festivities of Cusco, which this year include the pagan pilgrimage festival to the Sanctuary of the Lord of Coyllurit’i and Corpus Christi.