Potato Harvest Celebration

In the Andean highlands, the potato harvest generally takes place in late May-early June. In Peru, May 30 is marked as National Potato Day.
This year, Valerie got to celebrate up in Huancayo, where her office has a highland research station. Though we had been through the city on visits to the Junin region and Mantero Valley, it was her first time seeing the research work first hand, and meeting the local staff. To celebrate the harvest, the station staff prepared a big "pachamanca". This is a traditional feast, composed of potatoes (sometimes with other Andean root/tuber crops), beans, meat, and humitas (similar to a tamale). All of these foods are cooked in a pit that is dug into the ground and filled with hot rocks. The foods are layered on top of each other, interspersed with the hot rocks and herbs. They cook for an hour or more. The result is delicious.
For the Huancayo celebration, the staff prepared five pachamanca pits, enough to serve dozens of people. They invited family members, some local dancers, and several staff from the Lima office.
This is the beginning of the winter in Peru, which is also the dry season in the mountains (compared to Lima and the coast where winter signals the arrival of the wet season). The nights are very chilly, generally below freezing. But the days are sunny, and temperatures warm up considerably.
The day of the harvest celebration was no exception.

Filling the pachamanca pit was a group activity
 The beans, potatoes, meat, and humitas were placed in layers

Here is the finished product: big pieces of chicken and pork, Lima beans, humitas, and buried in the bottom, native potatoes. It was really too much for one person. But it was delicious!

 The celebration included dancers, some of the from the staff and others invited from local dance groups

 For fun, those of us visiting from Lima were asked to dress up in traditional outfits. They included multiple petticoats and layers of clothes. Enough to keep you warm on cold days.