On the 24th of June many locals and tourists gather in Cusco for the Festival of Sun, but on the same day citizens of the Amazon region stay in their villages to celebrate the San Juan (Saint John) Festival.
San Juan Bautista is the patron of the Amazon region and its good guardian. On the day before the festival men get out bottles of wine and beer from caches while women have the honorable task to prepare juanes. These tiny parcels are very meaningful for this festival, as they symbolse the head of San Juan. Juanes are made of seasoned rice, boiled eggs, chicken, olives, and are wrapped up in bijao leaves. Even though this snack can be bought throughout the year, only on the 24th of June is it exchanged between families and close friends. For the luck of tourists who decide to visit Amazonian communities at this time, they will also be given some juanes, as Peruvians pity those lonely wandering gringos.
