Field Museum Celebrating Andean New Year Sunday With Chicago Indigenous Kichwa Group

DOWNTOWN — The Field Museum is celebrating the Andean New Year with a special event Sunday. 

Comunidad Kichwa Runa, a group of Indigenous Kichwa people from Ecuador who live in Chicago, will lead a ceremony for the new year’s celebration called Mushuk Nina — which translates to “New Fire” and coincides with the Spring Equinox, according to a press release. 

The celebration is scheduled for 12 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday in Stanley Field Hall at the museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr.

The event will feature performances, dance, displays of Kichwa clothing, and youth activities, including coloring traditional Kichwa patterns, officials said.

The event is part of a collaboration between the Field Museum and the Comunidad Kichwa Runa, who were invited to visit the museum in 2021 for a tour, view the museum’s collection and to discuss future mutual efforts between the groups, officials said.

The event and activities are free but require a general admission ticket to the museum. 

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