New year’s traditions in the Valley

In the Sacred Valley of Peru, New Year’s (Año Nuevo) blends Andean cosmology with customs introduced during the Spanish colonial period. The result is a night rich in symbolism, intention-setting, and a bit of joyful playfulness. Two of the most common traditions you’ll see—especially in towns like Pisac, Urubamba, and surrounding villages such as where we’re located in Huaran —are yellow underwear and eating 12 grapes at midnight.

💛 Yellow underwear (ropa interior amarilla)

This is one of the most visible New Year’s traditions in the Sacred Valley.

• Meaning: Yellow is associated with abundance, prosperity, vitality, and good luck. In Andean symbolism, yellow also connects to the sun (Inti), life force, and harvest.

• How it’s practiced: People wear yellow underwear on New Year’s Eve to attract good fortune in the coming year.

• Local variation:

  • Wearing it inside out before midnight and turning it right-side-out after midnight is believed to “activate” the intention.

  • Some say new yellow underwear is especially powerful.

• You’ll notice: In late December, markets overflow with yellow underwear—often decorated with suns, frogs (symbols of fertility and abundance), coins, or cheeky sayings.

🍇 Eating 12 grapes at midnight

(My personal favorite), this tradition comes from Spain but has been fully embraced in Peru, including the Sacred Valley.

• Meaning: Each grape represents one month of the coming year.

• How it’s practiced: At the stroke of midnight, people eat 12 grapes, making a wish with each one.

• Tone: While rooted in superstition, it’s playful and communal—families and friends laughing as they try to keep up with the clock.

• Local flavor: In the Sacred Valley, the wishes often center on health, harmony, good harvests, love, and community well-being, reflecting Andean values.
  

  In a nutshell, the new year is an important time of ayni (reciprocity), gratitude, and setting intentions in harmony with Pachamama (Mother Earth).in the Valley. The traditions are less about superstition and more about embodied intention; they become acts of hope, humor, and alignment with abundance as people step into the new cycle together.

  Many people also:

  • Clean their homes energetically and physically

  • Light candles

  • Offer prayers or small rituals for balance and protection