August 3 – 11, 2024.
We love a good festival! And lucky us, we were in Medellín for one of Colombia’s biggest festivals, La Feria de las Flores.
The first Feria de las Flores was held in 1957 to celebrate the flower-growing industry of the Santa Elena district, just north of Medellín. Back then it was a 5 day festival but has now grown to 10 days with parades, arts and crafts, concerts, cultural displays, and many private events throughout the city. The culmination of the festival happens on a Sunday with the Desfile de Silleteros (Silleteros Parade).
Silleteros are flower vendors who carry great wreaths of flowers on their backs in what are called silletas. Silletas are large wooden chair-like structures that were originally made to carry goods and members of the upper class through the steep Andean mountainside during the colonial era. Later, the flower sellers of Santa Elena adopted this transportation method to bring their flowers to Medellín, a journey of approximately 14 miles.
I think we started hearing about the festival as soon as we arrived in Medellín in June. As the festival grew near, people would tell us about the best events. Wanting to make sure we didn’t miss anything really cool, I searched for a schedule online. But had no luck until just a week before the festival’s start, when I found an 88-page booklet with more events than I could digest.
(Click photos to enlarge, read captions, and view in a slide show)
Feria a Ritmo de Bicicleta
The first event we hit was a bicycle fair and parade. We were actually trying to go to the pet parade, but I had the wrong day. So we checked the massive schedule and hopped on a bus to another part of town to check out the bikes. It was a super fun first event for us. Riders arrived early and circled the plaza before they started their procession through the city.
This might have been my favorite event of the fair. So much creativity and no crowds!
We took a short break from the bicycles and strolled over to the Parques del Río. Tents were set up getting ready to sell crafts and food.
Desfile de Autos Clásicos y Antiguos
Everyone told us we couldn’t miss the antique car parade. It was just a short walk from where we were staying in El Poblado and ran a good length of the city. First, all the sponsors drove by in their giant semis, followed by different car categories. Hearses, VW Things, all types of convertibles, motorbikes, jeeps, trucks, etc. People dressed in period costumes to match their vehicle. There was even Mr. T with his black van.
Plaza Botero
Plaza Botero was full of little stages with entertainers.
Jardín Botánico de Medellín
The botanical garden of Medellín is usually free, but for the fair, they charge admission. Inside we found a beautiful garden with a display of amazing orchids. We followed the sound of music to discover a Trova competition. A packed crowd surrounded two singers accompanied by a guitar player who were trading off improvised lyrics, humor, and commentary trying to best one another with their songs. I couldn’t understand what they were saying but the crowd loved it. And I loved watching one Trova musician crack up at the other’s lyrics.
El Desfile de Silleteros
The big event was the Silleteros Parade. If I had been thinking ahead, it would have been ideal to get tickets to sit in one of the many rows of bleachers that lined the parade route. But since I didn’t we had to wade through the crowds to find a place where I could see over the heads of other people. During the parade, it rained. We opened our umbrellas and were immediately sharing them with our neighbors until the poncho seller showed up. Of course, no rain wasn’t going to kill this parade. But it did make it much harder to see through all the umbrellas. Eventually, a kind woman, whom Greg had met while taking shelter from the rain, offered me her stool to stand on. She spoke English, and we had a nice chat. She invited us to dinner, but unfortunately, we were leaving Medellín in two days time. Eventually, the shower became too much and the parade stopped until the rain let up. Now with a better view, we continued watching and waiting for the highlight, the Silleteros. But the parade was too long and we were becoming weary.
We decided to leave and beat the crowd to the Metro station. As we navigated along the parade route, I kept an eye out, looking over the heads of the crowd for the famed flower bearers. Just as we were about to veer away from the route, we took a small detour to stand on a hill where we could see the parade emerging from a tunnel. I moved around to get a good view and was just about to give up when the silleteros came down the street laden with great wreaths of flowers on their backs.
We still left before the end of the parade, but our Feria de las Flores was complete.
