Spirit of The Snow Star

• Prize
  Gold in People/Culture, 2nd Place winner in People
• Photographer
  Michael Bednar
• Agency / Studio
  Michael Bednar Photography
• Photo Date
  2023 and 2024

Qoyllur Rit’i or the Snow Star Festival as it translates from Quechua, is a syncretic religious festival that occurs yearly in the high-elevation Sinakara Valley of the Peruvian Andes. Thousands of pilgrims travel from throughout Peru and South America to dance, sing, and pray. It combines Indigenous beliefs and traditions with Spanish Catholic customs and epitomizes the syncretic nature of the two cultures as they struggle to co-exist.