La Fiesta de Agua

Agua, La Fiesta de

First Sunday in OctoberA festival held in San Pedro de Casta, Lima Department, Peru, the Water Festival accompanies the annual cleaning and maintaining of the river canals. The town mayor goes to the cave where Pariapunko, a deity of water, is believed to reside and implores him to flood the community with fresh water. Then La Toma, the gate that holds back the Carhuayumac River, is opened and the water is allowed to course through the newly repaired canals. A procession of horsemen follows the path of the water as it makes its way to the gorge of Carhuayumac.
SOURCES:
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 589