In Colombia one can find a festival or a reason to celebrate on any given day of the week, ranging from the most peculiar to some well-established and widely known. Following the article detailing January to June, here we give a month by month run down for July though December 2010.
July
Colombia Moda
Location: Medellin
Dates: End of July
What to Expect: The beautiful people and their beautifully dressed friends will descend into Medellin’s Aburrá Valley and attend catwalks, photo shoots and other model activities. If the idea of the Colombian Miami expat community taking over Medellin is terrifying then perhaps wait for August and the Flower Festival to visit the city!
August
Location: Medellin, Antioquia.
Dates: First week in August
What to Expect: The streets will be packed to watch the famous desfile de los silleteros – literally parade of the flower offerings – as local flower growers display fine adornments all made into an intricate float which each individual then carries on his/her back. There are over 130 events during this fiesta ranging from orchid displays to horse races. But the real partying takes place later on in the evening.
Kites Festival
Location: Villa de Leyva, Boyaca
Dates: August Long Weekend
What to Expect: Hopefully a good wind, but this should not be too much of a problem since this is windy season in Colombia. Both amateur and professional kite flyers rub shoulders in what is a spectacle of colour against Boyacá’s clear blue skies.
September
Bogota, Cundinamarca.
Dates: 2nd Week in September
What to Expect: In previous the organisers have been very successful in bringing artists from all over the world including from the US and Holland in addition to overseas based Colombians. Usually proceedings are led by the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra and then there are workshops, student performances and live gigs and jam sessions in the Parque Simon Bolivar as well as in dimly lit jazz venues about the capital.
October
Location: San Agustin, Huila.
Dates: TBA
What to Expect: Set up in attempt to rescue all of the various displays of culture from this region of Huila,
the Cultural Week in San Agustin should have something for every palate. As the impressive anthropomorphic statues are found in a well-kept park nearby to the picturesque town and there are plenty of activities such as horse-riding and hiking to enjoy in the area, why not plan a trip to Colombia’s south at this time?
November
Location: Cartagena, Bolivar
Dates: December
What to Expect: Taking place at the same time as the independence celebrations in the city of Cartagena, this city becomes a touristic hotspot, perhaps more so than normal. While the Miss Colombia hopefuls, hailing from all over the country, strut their stuff at daily events about the city, each night there are various fiestas put on and if lucky a glimpse of the potential winner!
December
Location: Cali, Valle de Cauca
Dates: December 26 – Jan 3
What to Expect: Plenty of procession, salsa dancing, horse events and non-stop partying in Colombia’s hot southern city. Some locals have complained that the true essence and costs of attending the events are now too much for the real Calenos, but they put these issues aside and celebrate all the same en masse.
Festival of Lights
Location: Villa de Leyva, Boyaca
Dates: Dec 7 and 8
What to Expect: During the nights of the 7th and 8th of December the streets of colonial Villa de Leyva are illuminated with hundreds of fireworks and the balconies and homes are lined with candles making this a well worthwhile spectacle. Evoking the spirit of Christmas, one can expect to find many families from Bogota making the trip 3 hours to this town to enjoy the event.
Richard McColl - I am a freelance writer from deepest darkest London but for the past 10 years or so I have been maintaining my extended "writing break" in ...
