they eat the winners
The celebration of the 'cuy', as guinea pigs are known in the Andes, also included contests for the biggest, fastest, best-dressed and, finally, tastiest animal of all.
While the lucky guinea pigs at the festival escaped with only the indignity of being turned into kings, miners and Peruvian peasants for the day, the less fortunate ended up on a plate.
Guinea pigs are native to the high Andes and their low-fat meat has been an important source of protein for thousands of years.
Farmers and chefs gathered and presented dishes of guinea pig fried, grilled, or baked with generous helpings of Andean potatoes and large Peruvian corn called choclo.
Some cooks chopped off the head and paws - cuy is traditionally served whole in the Andes - in the hope that it would sell better among foreigners for whom the fluffy rodents were once childhood pets
