Colombia celebrates its Independence Day on Monday, July 20. Therefore,
events will take place throughout the country, from the Grand
National Concert to a 17-days hike to relive the journey of liberator
Simon Bolivar 199 years ago.
The Independence Day celebrations have something to offer for every taste.
The biggest event on the Independence Day will be the Grand National Concert which takes place in 1099 municipalities and is for free. With a huge variety in music genres the concerts should be for everybody – hip hop, rock, metal, electronic, salsa, traditional Colombian music, tropipop and many more.
The Grand National Concert in Bogota will take place Simon Bolivar Park
with Toto la Momposina, Bolaefuego, Guafa Trio, Kraken, Wamba, and many
more.
In Medellin the Grand National Concert takes place at the north side of Carabobo, between the Norte and Explora park. The show begins at noon with the National Anthem, which will be sung simultaneously throughout the country, and ends at 7.30PM with fireworks. Aterciopelados, Gordos Proyect, Crew Peligrosos, Naki and the Banda Sinfonica will perform.
Cali will celebrate the Grand National Concert in the Parque de la Banderas with Doctor Krapula, Superlitio, the Orquestra Sinfonica of Cali, Sol Nacer and the orchestra Casa Blanca. “The diversity of our city allows us to combine various rythms. “We want to be a festival for all tastes and we want that all caleños [inhabitants of Cali] go to the streets to celebrate and to enjoy the super concert. We are committed to our celebration of independence and therefore we are preparing the best show in the country,” Argemiro Cortes Buitrago, secretary of Culture and Tourism in Cali, said.
Cartagena will start the Grand National Concert already at 10:30AM and end it at 4:30PM. It takes place at the Plaza de la Aduana with the groups Orquestra Sinfonica del INEM, Son Palenque, Tambobreak and Charles King among others.
Barranquilla’s Grand National Concert will be a real carnival, with
unique concerts, two stages, alternate presentations and ten different
acts, the Ministry of Culture, Heritage and Tourism of the city promises. Joe Arroyo, Tatiana Klaus, Petrona Martinez, Tropisalsa and the Symphonic Orchestra of Barranquilla will play. The concert takes place at the Romelio Martinez stadium. Doors open at noon.
The Grand National Concert will also take place in 55 prisons in the country and 232 radio stations will broadcasts the concerts.
The ones who want to relive history can walk the same journey as liberator Simon Bolivar and his army did 190 years ago. The hike takes 17-days and leads through 20 municipalities with temperatures between 25 and 2 degrees.
The journey begins on Monday in Pore, Casanare, and ends on August 7 at the Bridge of Boyaca to commemorate the historic battle that sealed Colombia’s independence.
Those who don’t want to walk 366 km but would like to experience something spectacular, can go to Bogota on Sunday, July 19, to see around 60 hot-air balloons floating over their city.