Culture in Chile: festivals, cuisine & Indigenous

The culture in Chile is shaped by the history of its Indigenous peoples and colonial settlers, but also by its climate, and its uniquely long, slender profile.

More than a tenth of the Chilean population identifies as Indigenous, predominantly Mapuche (people of the land). Meanwhile waves of European immigration, particularly from Spain and Germany, have strongly influenced many aspects of Chilean culture, from religion (Chile is predominantly Roman Catholic) to dances (the romantic cueca), winemaking and the many different types of pastry you find in Chilean cuisine.

Chile stretches for over 4,000km along South America’s Pacific coast, and many of our immersive cultural tours run its full length. On our trips you can see how ways of life and traditions vary as you venture from the harsh, high-altitude Andean terrain of the Altiplano region to the mysterious and remote Easter Island, to the Lake District, heartland of the Mapuche People, dotted with pockets of Germanic society and where you might also encounter huasos horsemen, similar to the gauchos of neighbouring Argentina.

If you’re a seafood aficionado, you’ll love Chile, and if you’re not, then Chile will make you one. From baked clams to crab casserole and rich, creamy stews, the fish and seafood drawn from the Pacific Ocean can be on the table in hours wherever you are, because Chile is so narrow that you’re never far from the coast. This is a country, and a culture, with powerful links to the sea. Pablo Neruda, the legendary Chilean poet, once penned an ode to the conger eel stew, “…in Chilean stewpots, along the coast, was born the chowder, thick and succulent, a boon to man.”

In central and southern Chile, where ranches proliferate across expansive grasslands, whole lambs are grilled on asados (barbecues), a mouthwatering affair that also offers an insight into communal aspects of country living. The curanto, cooked underground on hot rocks, is another popular shared feast.

Vines arrived in Chile in the 16th century with the Spanish conquistadores, and before long a flask of wine, sometimes made from grapes grown in the back garden, was a fixture of dinner tables the length of the country. Chilean viniculture really took off from the late 20th century, however, as a new wave of French emigres arrived, bringing with them generations’ worth of knowhow. Today some of the finest Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs on the planet originate from places like the Maipo Valley. Many of our holidays include vineyard tours that allow you to sample the wares of some of the region’s smaller producers and are a great way to meet local growers.

Chile has many regional folk festivals (fiestas costumbrista) that are held throughout the year and offer fantastic opportunities to explore the culture of different groups. Take, for example, the Festival del Huaso de Olmue, held in January near Valparaiso. The event is a celebration of rural identity and traditions, particularly those around the huasos and huasas (horsemen and women) of central Chile.

Vendimias are grape harvest celebrations held in Chile’s wine regions in the autumnal months of March and April. These tend to be much more relaxed and informal than wine tasting tours in vineyards, with people gathering to share a glass over a plate of asado with a local band accompanying.

“On Easter Island the big festival is the Tapati in early February for a couple of weeks,” says Steve Wilson, the founder of our partner LiNGER. “There's a strong Polynesian culture there with a very specific identity.” Clans gather to take part in triathlons (canoeing, swimming across crater lakes and running with a 20kg load of bananas) and hair-raising events like sledging down the slope of a volcano. In the evenings things calm down a little, with performances of music, dance and storytelling. While visitors are welcome at Tapati, it is very much not a tourist-oriented festival, so that you feel like a guest rather than a spectator.

The best way to visit Indigenous communities in Chile is in the company of a local guide. As well as filling you in on important history and helping you to understand customs and fostering conversation, they can also be vital in ensuring your stay goes smoothly. “Mapuche culture is very conservative, very private, quite formal so it’s important to be sensitive,” says Steve. On our trips you will most likely have a Mapuche guide with you which means the conversation will flow more naturally.

Centuries ago, Indigenous herders would follow long distance routes through the Atacama Desert, passing on the knowledge of oases through generations. That was vital in such a parched landscape, where rainfall is scarce to the point of being non-existent. In Calama, on the edge of the desert, you can take a walk with a member of a Lickan Antay community, joined by a friendly llama or two, as you follow in the footsteps of their ancestors to learn about the skills needed to pursue a life in the desert.

Excessive or poorly planned tourism can lead to inauthentic cultural practices such as people wearing traditional forms of dress when they wouldn’t otherwise, or staged song and dance performances where through over-repetition the meaning behind them is lost. Often this is because local people believe that tourists have an expectation of certain images or experiences, and because they have grown dependent on tour groups, feel they must ‘put on a show’ to keep them coming.

Our holidays work in partnership with the communities they visit to avoid exploitation, cultural misrepresentation or the commodification of traditions. They ensure hosts can engage with tourism in a way that suits them, sharing only what they want to share, and they also work to keep as much money in these places as possible.

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is the most remote inhabited island in the world. Formed by the eruptions of ancient underwater volcanoes, the island’s coast is ringed with gigantic statues, moai, erected to watch over their descendants. Yet how these immense monoliths were moved into position remains a mystery. On our Chile cultural tours, learning the stories of the moai and the ancient Birdman cult from a local guide is a window onto the history of one of the country’s most enthralling destinations.

Chiloe Island, off the southwest coast of Chile, has a distinctive culture threaded with myth and legends that feature ghost ships, sorcerers, monsters and mermaids. Coastal dwellers live in colourful stilt houses, which are occasionally uprooted and floated to new areas, a feat that necessitates a communal effort known as a minga.

“Very few people venture as far as Chiloe Island because it's a bit of an effort to get there,” says Steve. “But it's fascinating, from the stilted village houses to the food traditions to the rituals at certain times of year based around certain festivals.” Regular folk festivals throughout the year serve to bring local people together and strengthen their traditions. You can try curanto here, a meal of shellfish, pork, sausages, and potato dumplings, wrapped in leaves and cooked on hot rocks underground.

Known for its spectacular landscapes of glaciers, fjords and alpine peaks, a paradise for trekkers, Patagonia is an ancestral home for many Mapuche people. On some of our Chile cultural holidays you can spend the night with a local family in their ruka, a traditional wooden house, and also meet a seed guardian, someone who grows and preserves varieties of fruit and vegetables historically farmed by the Mapuche to prevent them from dying out. You may also visit a weaving workshop, and enjoy a typical Mapuche meal, an opportunity to learn about the community’s connection to the land.

Chilean traditions often revolve around community. They include the ayllu system, a form of local government in the Andes, and shared meals such as asado (barbecue) and curanto (food such as meat and vegetables cooked underground). Folk festivals take place in villages and towns throughout the year. Traditional artforms include the silverwork and handwoven textiles of the Mapuche peoples, who sometimes invite our travellers to stay a night in their ruka homes. These are made from mud, straw and clay, with a stove in the centre fuelled with beechwood, and typically built communally.

Chilean cuisine features a lot of seafood, due to the long Pacific coast that runs the length of the country, and hearty meat dishes that are particularly prevalent in the central and southern regions where ranches proliferate and barbecues are popular. European settlers from France and Germany brought with them advanced viniculture techniques, which has led to Chile becoming one of the finest New World wine producers.

You can visit many Mapuche communities in Chile such as those around Puerto Varas or Pucon. For a deeper understanding of their culture, it’s best to visit with a local guide who can explain things and help with the flow of conversation. Our holidays work with Indigenous peoples to ensure that tourism is on their terms and not exploitative.