02 · GALLERY
Five frames.
The Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu hosts an unposted circuit of medicine-music gatherings, ecstatic-dance halls, and full-moon ceremonies. La Columna in Yucay is the longest-running. Apudance with DJ Maisa Lozano is the most rigorous. The full-moon circles at Ollantaytambo are the most informal. The mid-March equinox is the calendar peak. None of this is online. You ask at hostels in Pisac. The Andes ring the valley. The acoustic is open-air at 2,800 metres elevation. The audience is travellers who have stayed too long and locals who have always been here.
Mid-March equinox is the calendar peak. Ask at hostels in Pisac for the unposted gatherings, never online.
Genuine non-Instagrammable scene. The post-Cusco listening culture that travellers come back changed from.
Mid-March equinox is the calendar peak for the ceremonial gatherings. Year-round ecstatic-dance and medicine-music circuits run in Pisac and Ollantaytambo. The dry season (May to September) is the most-attended.
Unposted, informal gatherings. Ask at hostels in Pisac and Ollantaytambo for current calendar. La Columna in Yucay runs Saturday ecstatic-dance; Apudance schedule varies.
Fly Cusco (CUZ), drive 90 minutes north into the Sacred Valley. Local taxis or shared collectivos from Cusco to Pisac (1 hour) and Ollantaytambo (2 hours). Most attendees stay at valley lodges.