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.