We Tripantu: Santiago Marks the Mapuche New Year at the Solstice

Chile · What’s On

We Tripantu is the Mapuche New Year, and it falls this weekend as the southern hemisphere reaches its winter solstice. For anyone living in or visiting Santiago, it is a chance to take part in one of Chile’s most meaningful Indigenous traditions, much of it free and open to the public.

What We Tripantu is

We Tripantu, also written Wiñoy Tripantu, is the Mapuche celebration of the sun’s return after the longest night. The name is often translated as a new rising of the sun and the moon.

It is widely described as the Mapuche New Year, the moment a fresh cycle begins. The festival honours the renewal of nature and the bond between people and the earth.

When it happens

The celebration is tied to the southern winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. In practice it is marked around June 20 to 24, with the night of the solstice at its heart.

Communities traditionally stay awake through that night to greet the new sun at dawn. The exact timing follows the solstice and the phases of the moon rather than a fixed calendar date.

The Santiago celebrations

Around the capital, several free events mark the date this year. In the commune of Pirque, the Pueblito de Artesanos hosts a family-focused gathering with food, crafts, dance and Mapuche cultural expressions.

In Recoleta, a “Fiesta del Sol” celebrates the date at the local cultural centre. A seed exchange at the MUT venue rounds out the weekend’s solstice programming.

The traditions

At the heart of We Tripantu is the fire, around which families and communities gather to eat, drink and talk. Elders share ancient stories that pass memory and knowledge to the young.

Music played on Mapuche instruments accompanies the night, alongside ritual washing and other ceremonies that welcome the new cycle. Food and shared abundance are central to the gathering.

Why it matters

For the Mapuche, the largest Indigenous people in Chile, We Tripantu is a profound spiritual and cultural marker. Its public celebration is also a statement of identity after long periods when such traditions were discouraged.

In recent years the date has gained wider recognition, with municipal and cultural institutions hosting events. That visibility is part of a broader revival of Indigenous culture across the country.

How to take part

The Santiago events are free and welcoming, and they are a respectful way for newcomers to learn. Come curious, follow the lead of organisers, and treat the ceremonies as the sacred occasions they are.

Dress warmly for a cold solstice night, and confirm each venue’s times before you set out. Arriving with an open mind, rather than a camera, is the spirit of the day.

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