Semana Santa Tarma

Tarma calls itself the pearl of the Andes and its Holy Week is what it is known for. Through the week, and above all on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, families and neighbourhood groups lay alfombras - carpets of flower petals, coloured sawdust and leaves - across the streets on the procession routes, worked overnight into geometric and religious designs that can run for whole blocks. The processions then pass over them and destroy them, which is the point. Tarma sits in a valley with a flower-growing industry, so the material is local and abundant. Processions carry the images from the churches with bands and large crowds, and the town fills with visitors from Lima and Huancayo. Accommodation books out well in advance and prices rise sharply for the week.

What you actually see

• The alfombras - petal and sawdust carpets laid across whole streets overnight.
• The processions - images carried over the carpets, destroying them as they pass.
• The making - families and groups working through the night on the designs.
• The flower valley - the local growing industry that supplies the material.

When to go

Holy Week, falling in March or April. Three to five days to see the sequence, with Good Friday and Easter Sunday the main days. Book accommodation months ahead.

Honest expectations

The town is full and rooms are expensive and scarce. Streets close and traffic is difficult. Carpets are laid overnight and destroyed within hours - timing matters. Cold nights at 3,050 metres, and rain can ruin the work.

Nearby

Acobamba and the Señor de Muruhuay sanctuary are close; San Pedro de Cajas is north.