INFORMATION

COLOMBIA 

The music of Colombia is an expression of Colombian culture, which contains diverse music genres, both traditional and modern, according with the features of each geographic region, although it is not uncommon to find different musical styles in the same region. The diversity in musical expressions found in Colombia can be seen as the result of a mixture of African, native Indigenous, and European (especially Spanish) influences, as well as more modern American, Caribbean, Cuban, and Jamaica musical forms.

QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS

• wich  is the most famous event in pasto?
• would you come to pasto and why?
• do you like the barranquilla's food?
• why do you think that corn is one of the main ingredients in the Pereira's food?
• what do you think about the Flower Fair?
• what city would you prefer and why?
• what do you think about that medellin should be the capital?
• what city is the capital of the salsa?
• do you like dance salsa in a party ?
• what carnival is celebrated in august 5 and august 6?
• what typical food of cali is prepared with ripe banana and cheese?

BARRANQUILLA

CULTURE IN BARRANQUILLA

Museums

MuseoRomántico (Romantic Museum) is located in a Republican mansion in the Prado district, showing objects from the history of the city. Costumes can be seen from the Carnival Queens to a replica of the old Abello ridge on the Paseo de Bolívar, through to the typewriter that Gabriel GarcíaMárquez wrote his first novel on, La Hojarasca. There are also letters of Simón Bolívar, photographs, albums, collections of newspapers, and other items that identify the history of the city. Museodel Caribe (Museum of the Caribbean) is located in the Parque Cultural del Caribe. MuseoAntropológico y Etnológico (Anthropological and Ethnological Museum.) is housed in the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Universidad del Atlántico. It presents a comprehensive collection of pieces from the indigenous cultures that inhabited the region. It also provides services as a newspaper library, reading room and exhibition hall. Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art)., established in 1996, brings together an important selection of works by several of the most important artists of the second half of the twentieth century. The collection includes works by renowned authors such as Fernando Botero, Alejandro Obregón, Enrique Grau and Luis Caballero. It is planned to be transferred to the Parque Cultural del Caribe

MuseoAeronáutico (Aeronautical Museum) is located at the Naval Officers' School ARC, founded in 1989 in tribute to the momentum that took place in Barranquilla with commercial aviation in the early twentieth century. Museo del Atlántico (Museum of the Atlantic) is a new regional museum located in the former headquarters of the Government of the Atlántico Department, covering over 4,000 square metres.[128] Museo del Carnaval (Carnival Museum) is another new museum established pm April 7, 2011 by the FundaciónCarnaval de Barranquilla in partnership with the Parque Cultural del Caribe and the Museo del Caribe, located in the Casa del Carnaval in the barrio of Abajo.

Events

In addition to the Carnival of Barranquilla and related activities, some of the most important cultural events in the city are: Barranquijazz, jazz festival which brings together major international figures of jazz, held in September at the Amira de la Rosa Theatre, among other places, Carnaval de lasArtes, a cultural event uniting intellectuals, writers, filmmakers, musicians and artists of national and international reputation, Feria Artesanal y Folclórica (Craft and Folk Fair) on the eastern side of the stadium, Feria del Juguete (Toy Fair), a great sale of toys during the month of December in the grounds of the Universal cemetery, Festival Internacional de Cuenteros El Caribe Cuenta with humor and stories which is held annually in August, Plataforma K. Evento, an annual fashion event organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Barranquilla held in March at the Universidad del Norte, Salón de ArtistasCosteños, an art festival organised annually by the Chamber of Commerce of Barranquilla, and the Miche Rock Festival, supported by the District Department of Culture of Barranquilla and the Departmental Secretariat of Culture 

Pigeon pea stew with salted meat.

gastronomy

Barranquilla serves a wide variety of cuisine to match its cosmopolitan population and tourists. Restaurants can be enjoyed from Creole cuisine to some of the most important international cuisines, such as Syrian-Lebanese (due to the significant presence of descendants of immigrants from the Middle East), Chinese, Japanese, Brazilian, Peruvian, French, Italian, Thai, Spanish etc. The typical dish of the city is plain rice, which is served with cassava buns. Very characteristic of the local cuisine is a pigeon pea stew with salted meat (which even has its own annual festival), sausage, cheese, fried arepas, caribañolas, pies, cupcakes, Patacón, black bean rice, chipichipi and Cucayo; noodles, drinks like raspao, boli, sugar water, tamarindo, zapote and níspero, coconut candies and Easter candy, cake, fish, shrimp and oysters, beef, chicken, pork and chicken dishes and pork rinds

PASTO

CULTURE IN PASTO

Carnival and arts

One of the most important events held by the city is the Blacks and Whites' Carnival (Carnaval de Negros y Blancos in Spanish), with outstanding displays of craftmanship in floats portraying legends and traditions, often mixed in with references to current political events in Colombia. During the carnival the city goes wild and unleashes all the joy it has bottled up all year. It is not advisable to wear nice clothes during this festival, as during these celebrations people have fun painting each other's faces with cosmetics colors (skin safe and created for this special purpose) and throwing talcum powder and party foam. The carnival takes place between January 2nd and 7th each year.

A speciality of this region is a pre-Columbian art technique called Barniz de Pasto, or Pasto Varnish in English. This uses a type of natural rubber (extracted from a tree called mopa-mopa) which is colored and then stretched over woodwork pieces; finally the skillful artisan uses a special knife to cut and create the many beautiful designs that characterise this artistic technique.

Tourism

The main attraction in the town of Pasto is Lake Guamuez or La Cochalake, located 27 kilometers from the city, 45 minutes by road, and 2800 meters over the sea level. On the site you can enjoy the scenery, food (especially rainbow trout), fishing and boating. In the middle of the lake there is the Island of La Corota, a National Forest Sanctuary.

For lovers of cultural tourism, in addition to its museums mentioned above, the city offers visitors a wealth of churches among which stands out the Church of San Juan Bautista of the eighteenth century, the cathedral, the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, the Church of San Felipe, the Church of San Sebastián or "the Bakery", Temple of Christ the King, St. James, and the Church of St. Augustine.

For ecotourism, the Chimayoy Environmental Center, meaning in Quillacinga "go to meet with the sun." Located 4 km on the road between San Juan de Pasto in Colombia's interior is a space provided for education, tourism and research environmental and ecological conservation, has long nature trails and diverse activities that seek methodologically integration of individuals and the community with the environment, promoting and strengthening ecological projects.

Gastronomy

The dishes representing the cuisine of San Juan de Pasto (Colombia) are the product of miscegenation, and expression of the fertility of the land and the diligence of the people. The most representative dish is the cuy grilled roast; between stand highlights desserts ice cream and candy pan chilacuán, and bakery as quimbolitos and the pie s of old.

One of his representative and typical drinks are called "Hervidos", which, as the name refers, is a hot drink fruit juice base that can be made from pineapple, blackberry or passion fruit. Through this preparation and infusion of cinnamon, the finishing touch is a traditional liquor called "chapil" or spirits.

On January 7, the festival of the guinea pig in the village of Catambuco as the culmination of the beginning of the year festivities.

PEREIRA

CULTURE IN PEREIRA

Otún Quimbaya Natural Park:

The Sanctuary area is characterized by a vegetation representative of the sub-Andean rainforest. In these forests the effect of rainy and dry seasons is masked by the regular presence of haze, being evergreen formations with gradual replacement of leaves.

Otún Quimbaya is a good scene to observe a wide variety of bird species, such as Cauca Guan, the Carriquí, Solitude Mountain, mammals such as the Howler Monkey, Mountain Tapir, theGuatín. It has a varied topography with slopes where there are species of flora and palms, Ficus, yarumos, bromeliads, orchids, and other species native to the cloud forest.

Harvest Festival:

Is from pagan times to give thanks to the gods for the food received from the harvest for one year guaranteeing food-makes this celebration one of the longest living of mankind.

Typical Food:

The Mazamorra and Claro:It is one of the derivatives of corn, generally offered as desktop or dessert.

Arepa: It is one of the main components of the typical food of the coffee is not only essential but also paisa tray when breakfast or snack, at breakfast.

Solteritas:Wheat flour cookies cream accompanied with fried orange essence.

MEDELLIN

CULTURE IN MEDELLIN

Paisa Culture:

Medellín is the largest city in the region called paisa of Colombia. As such, the paisa cultural element is expressed in the ways of speaking, dressing, construct, use the market, and the trading of the paisa common.

Feria de las Flores ( FlowerFair):

The Flower Fair is a traditional event and massive for 10 days is held every year in the city of Medellin, Colombia.

This fair is celebrating the city's flagship, which constitutes a raizal icon, cultural and historical.

The carnival atmosphere during these days lives Medellin offers a wide variety of events and shows, not all directly related to the flowers, but all the fun is named General of Fair flowers since they are the main part of the carnival, while offering the shows and most striking and beautiful scenes, and unique in the world.

Typical food:

The gastronomy of Antioquia and Medellin expresses the lifestyle of farmers and herdsmen who worked all day and prepared their food during the day.Meats such as chicken, pork and beef are present in all the dishes of this region, as well as corn.

You can see a rich gastronomy, generous in its portions and very spicy.

BOGOTA

CULTURE IN  BOGOTA

• The Cristobal Colon Theater, the Country's oldest Opera House, opened in 1892, is home to the National Symphony Association's major act, the nationalsymphony orchesta
• Rock or Rock at the Park, the most important open air rock music festival in Latin America. Recurring annually, it gathers over 320,000 music fans who can enjoy over 60 band performances for free during three days a year.The series have been so successful during its 15 years of operation that the city has replicated the initiative for other music genres, resulting in other recent festivals like Salsa at the Park, Hip Hop at the Park, Ballet at the Park, Opera at the Park, and Jazz at the Park

• Architecture

  The urban morphology and typology of colonial buildings in Bogotá have been maintained since the late nineteenth century, long after the independence of Colombia (1810). This persistence of the colonial setting is still visible, particularly in La Candelaria, the historical center of Bogotá. Also kept up are the colonial houses of two stories, with courtyards, gabled roofs, ceramic tiles and balconies. In some cases, these balconies were filled with glass during the Republican period, a distinguishing feature of the architecture of the sector (for example, the House of Rafael Pombo).
  Bogotá's Carnival 
  Is celebrated in Bogota every year on August 5 and August 6 for the city's anniversary of its Hispanic foundation. Most of the cultural events take place in the heart of Parque Metropolitano Simón Bolívar. The festivities also include pre-carnival celebrations during the month of July. One of the main objectives of the carnival is to promote and encourage the cultural and musical diversity of colombia
  Typical food
  A broad array of restaurants can be visited in Bogota where typical and international food can be enjoyed. The G Zone, La Candelaria and the International Centre are some of the main sectors where a number of international restaurants are found.
  In Bogotá, as in the rest of the country, it is very traditional to prepare dishes based on pork, potatoes, beans, corn, rice, and soups. Among the most typical dishes in the region is "ajiaco santafereño", a delicious chicken soup with a wide variety of potatoes
  
  
  
  

CALI

CULTURE IN CALI

• Casa de la cultura de Proartes. Since 1871 this house has been a great influence in the culture in cali. The building was restored on 1991 and it contains exhibition saloons, scenarios and a cinema.

• Centro cultural de Cali. Its design was in charge of the famous Colombian architect Rogelio Salmona, who built as well the Torres del Parque in Bogotá and several other buildings. Since 1997 it is considered the cultural center in the city and headquarters of the Municipal secretaries of tourism and culture.

• Feria de Cali (the Cali Fair)

  "La Feria de Cali" is the main cultural event in the city. It is a fair that has been celebrated since 1957. The fair is celebrated from 25 to 30 December. The fair is known also as the "Feria de la Caña" (sugar cane fair) and "Feria de la salsa" (Salsa fair). People enjoy many activities like an opening cabalgata (parade of horseback riders), tascas, salsa concerts, bullfights, parades, athletic activities, competitions and cultural exhibitions.

  Salsa music

  Cali is also known as the "Capital de la salsa" given the city's infatuation with that type of Afro-Caribbean music. In early July there is the Summer Salsa Festival which lasts for one week. It usually includes concerts by some of the world's great salsa bands as well as dance shows and "melomano" competitions in which salsa connoisseurs try to out do each other by digging deep into the archives of salsa music and related sounds to find and reveal long lost tunes. On any night of the week small salsa clubs offer a variety of Afro-Caribbean beats

  Typical food

  Cali is a city with great cultural diversity and its exquisite cuisine is an example of it, featuring patties, tamales, "arroz atollao", with a wet consistency, prepared with spicy pork sausage, pork, and potatoes; and the delicious "sancocho de gallina".
• After delighting your palate with the exquisite dishes of Cali, you can enjoy desserts as "Manjar blanco", consisting of a kind of white paste prepared with milk and sugar and served with bread, although it can be used as filling for cookies and alfajores; as well as "cocadas", "gelatinas de pata", "macetas del valle", and "aborrajado", which is prepared with ripe banana and cheese.