Every year on Christmas Day in a number of southern Peruvian cities, towns, and villages, drunk inhabitants gather to dance and engage in a series of single combats, man-to-man, woman-to-woman. It is a ritual designed to settle any disputes that may have arisen during the year.
The practice is called takanakuy. It begins with preliminary alcohol consumption in the days leading up to Christmas. On the day itself costumed participants gather to eat breakfast together at a local church and then process to the town square accompanied by the singing of a stylized music known as waylilla.
Once in the square challengers call out their foe by name and commence the brawl. Biting and hair-pulling are forbidden and order is kept by whip-carrying referees. At the end of the battles, fighters embrace or, if the loser appeals the decision, square off for another encounter. The hope is that by the time the fights are finished, grievances have been settled and social harmony has been restored.