Parque Simon Bolivar in Bogota opens its doors for the 15th anniversary
of Rock al Parque this weekend. 68 national and international bands
will play under the slogan “Vida, máximo respeto”.
Rock al Parque is the biggest open air rock festival in Latin America, it has three stages and is for free. It is one in a series of open air festivals planned this year in Bogota.
68 bands, like Molotov, Fito Paez, Morbid Angel and I.R.A. among others, will rock the park. But they will rock with respect. The slogan of 2009 calls on the audience to maximal respect the music, the rock, the city, the earth and other people. “A la vida, máximo respecto” – to the life with maximal respect.
Wear comfortable and impermeable clothes, bring your ID and leave the alcohol at home, the organizers recommend. You are not allowed to drink booze nor smoke on the festival area. In other words, this weekend is only about Rock n’ Roll and not about sex and drugs.
What started as a local festival to promote local youth culture has
grown to an immense festival with bands from all parts of the world,
representing many types of music. Do prepare yourself for a large
number of metal bands, like Haggard from Germany.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary, there is a photo exhibition called “Rock the Park, 15 years of extreme coexistence”. The photos are currently shown in the Public Library Virgillo Barco Vargs.
The doors to the festival open at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday. The program starts at 1 pm. and ends at 10 pm. On Monday (a public holiday in Colombia) you can enter the festival area at 9 am. The first concerts on that day start at noon.