Inti Raymi

How does a culture in your world celebrate the winter solstice?
Every June 24, there is a celebration called Inti Raymi, meaning ‘festival of the sun’ in Quechua, the Inti Raymi was established by the Inca Pachacutec in the decade of 1430 AD, and was celebrated every year during the winter solstice of the southern hemisphere -the day when the Sun was farthest from the Earth-. It was the most important ancestral festivity of the Tahuantinsuyo, which the inhabitants of the four suyos used to attend. Traditionally, the Inti Raymi was preceded by three days of purification and fasting, which included participants consuming only water, uncooked corn and chucam.
Then, on the morning of the solstice, the people of Cusco would gather in the square, remove their shoes and face the rising sun. As the sun rose higher in the sky, people would crouch down and blow kisses in a sign of respect, before raising two golden cups filled to the brim with offerings(The Inca [the most prominent authority] and the curacas [those in charge of the different ayllus, smaller communities] would wait for the first sun rays while squatting and their arms pointing to the sky. When the sun was fully visible, the Inca would toast with two cups of chicha, one in each hand.One of the cups, the one in the left hand, would be shared with his family. The cup in the right hand would be offered to the God Sun as it was poured into a gold vessel. That’s how the initial ceremony went on the Inti Raymi day.).
The first three days of the festival began with a massive procession from the Inca Temple of the Sun, Coricancha to the fortress of Sacsayhuaman. Workers would run ahead of the procession, sweeping the road and covering it with flowers so it would be clean and soft for the feet of the Sapa Inca’s entourage. There is a massive golden tower at Sacsayhuaman that the Inca would climb to address the people of the empire. The priests of Inti would bless the people, and the procession would return to the city.
Following days of colourful dances and processions, the celebrations culminated in the sacrifice of llamas, and sometimes children, at the Coricancha temple. This was done as an offering to Pachamama, (Mother Earth) a revered goddess in Incan mythology, in order to ensure a good harvest the following year.
The celebrations would then be moved to the Coricancha, the religious epicenter of the empire. All curacas would give their offerings brought from their lands to the God Sun. One cattle sacrifice would mark the tradition, and the meat was shared with the entire gathering.
This day was a significant one for the Incans. Not only it represented an offering for their most important deity, but it was also an act of togetherness. Everyone would work very hard, hand in hand, to make this a perfect day.