Colombia’s biggest salsa event, la Feria de Cali started Christmas day and will make the city the world center of Salsa until December 31. The event, held for the 51th time, will will make Cali a bit like Rio de Janeiro during carnaval. Without the samba, but with a LOT of salsa.
Just like Rio’s famous sambaschools, Cali has its schools for salsa and the country’s strongest and liveliest tradition of dancing the tropical steps.
And just like Rio’s famous sambódromo — where the school show off the dances they prepared for the carnaval throughout the year — Cali has its Salsódromo.
Every year, the most renowned international stars of salsa appear in Cali, making it the worlds epicenter of salsa more than it already is on an average day.
What Cali does have and Rio doesn’t is a multitude of bullfighs (unlike salsa not very attractive for animal lovers).
The feria is the highlight of the Cali year and draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to Colombia’s third largest city.