Colombia’s San Pacho festival makes UNESCO’s ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ list

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The San Pacho festival, held every year in western Colombia, was declared an “Intangible Cultural Heritage” for humanity Wednesday by UNESCO.

The U.N. agency’s 2012 list of 36 worldwide events included Colombia’s San Pacho festival that takes place in Quibdo, Choco for approximately 20 days starting in September and ending in October every year to celebrate the town’s patron saint, Saint Francis of Assisi more commonly known as San Pacho.

The festival that hosts parades, dancing, music, and oral tradition is added to seven other such Colombian practices that have been honored as “Ingangible Cultural Heritages” by UNESCO in past years.The Colombian list includes: the Barranquilla Carnival, Palenque in San Basilio, Black and White Carnival, Easter procession in Popayan, native Wayuu normative practices, marimba music of the Pacific south and the jaguar shamans of Yurupari.

The San Pacho event was also nominated for UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a list that “aims to provide greater visibility to the intangible cultural heritage in general, raise awareness of its importance and encourage dialogue in respect of cultural diversity.”