Peruvian prisoners make traditional costumes for festival
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Forty inmates at the Puno Penitentiary in Peru have been making over 700 traditional costumes for the Festival of the Virgin of Candelaria.
For the past four months, the prisoners have worked in a workshop creating outfits for traditional dances including morenada, diablada, caporales, kullahuada and galas. They are applying skills in sewing, embroidery, design, and creativity to produce the elaborate garments.
The inmates are crafting the costumes for public and private entities, as well as regional folklore groups like Bellavista, Laykakota and Orkapata, including the Peruvian Army and National Police. The project operates through four agreements with private companies and entrepreneurial inmates, creating job opportunities and building skills. The National Penitentiary Institute (Inpe) supports this work as part of a broader strategy to help inmates reintegrate into society through employment and training.
Currently, 29,763 prisoners across Peru participate in productive activities under Inpe’s “Productive Prisons” policy. Nelson Espinoza Soriano, head of the Altiplano Puno Regional Office’s Treatment Sub-direction, emphasized the importance of work in the rehabilitation process.
