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.