Cali Fair: History and Significance; How to celebrate La Feria de Cali

La Feria de Cali or Cali Fair is the most important cultural festival in Santiago de Cali, Colombia. The annual 2020 Cali Fair started on Friday, 25 December, and finishes on Wednesday, 30 December.

The annual Feria de Cali or Cali Fair in Colombia has developed into one of South America’s most significant salsa festivals with fireworks, colorful parades, free music concerts, culture and art events, magnificence events, and more, beginning on Christmas Day until the year’s end.

Colombia’s third-biggest city is as of now a famous hub for salsa lovers where you can dance in salsa clubs around evening time while during the day, meandering its roads, you’ll hear salsa, cumbia, and vallenato tunes emerging from shops and homes. It’s maybe nothing surprise then that every year Cali begins its Cali Fair with Colombia’s biggest salsa event called the Salsódromo parade.

Be that as it may, it’s salsa you can appreciate here. During the six days of the Feria de Cali, the city overflows with cultural celebrations going from other significant parades, for example, the carnival and vintage car parades, to sports, music memorabilia fairs, lots of local street food, and an entire range of music concerts huge numbers of which are free.

La Feria de Cali History

The Feria de Cali goes back right to 1957, the year after a major explosion shook the city killing several individuals. The city authorities decided then to plan a big fair for the following year to lift the spirits again of its grieving residents and to infuse new life in the nearby economy. Even though the origins of the Feria de Cali may have been tragic, it hasn’t at all forestalled its members to delight in its abundant and fun celebrations.

Celebrated since 1957, the Feria de Cali currently attracts somewhere in the range of two million guests and showcases the cultural and musical diversity of the region’s majority Afro-Colombian populace. It has transformed into what is broadly viewed as the nation’s most significant social and musical diversity of the region’s majority.

What to expect at La Feria de Cali 2020?

Ordinarily, there’s a major firework display on Christmas Eve, however, the official beginning of the Cali Fair is the day after, on Christmas Day. The opening concert (Concierto debut) on the 25th marks the beginning of numerous different shows to follow during the Feria de Cali, yet the most important event that day – and of the whole week – is the salsa marathon called Salsódromo.

The Salsódromo is a fabulous salsa parade over a length of one kilometer where observers on tribunes can watch showings of several national and international salsa dancers. This is a five-hour event that takes a large portion of a year to get ready for. Simply the best salsa dancing schools and other eminent artists and moving gatherings are welcome to partake.

On Boxing Day you can literally the Afro-Colombian culture during the Feria Artesanal y del Emprendimiento or Fair of Artisans and Entrepreneurs, with a lot of food stalls and handicrafts. That day there’s likewise the Cali Grand Prix sports fair, while in the evening music concerts by the best local bands ensure you end the day on a swinging note.

Even though the Feria de Cali is known as a salsa event, music lovers can likewise appreciate performances by renowned musicians of various musical styles including cumbia, vallenato, and other typical Colombian styles. The Súperconcierto or super concert on the 27th in the football stadium Pascual Guerrero is the music feature of the Cali Fair.

Some of the world’s greatest Latin names have performed here including the American all-time top-selling salsa artist Marc Anthony with two Grammy and six Latin Grammy awards added to his belt; Mexican singer Ana Gabriel with her diverse music styles of Spanish rock, Latin pop, and Mexican ranchera; and the American salsa singer Victor Manuelle, close by many local Colombian stars.

Another conspicuous part of the Feria de Cali is its not-to-be-missed Carnaval de Cali Viejo on the 28th, various carnival parades under various themes. You can watch the lovely mix of the various traditions and artistic expressions of the Spanish and Afro-Colombian cultures with shocking outfits, energizing music, and a blast of color.

Other eminent events incorporate the Desfile de Autos Clásicos y Antiguos on the 27th, a classic and antique cars parade where car lovers from everywhere the nation descend to Cali in their old Mustangs, Corvettes, Cadillacs or even older automobiles; and the Encuentro de Melómanos y Coleccionistas held more than a few days, where old music records, instruments, and souvenirs of the biggest names in salsa’s music history are sold and dealt.

In a couple of events, The Fair included Vallenato and Merengue groups from Colombian and encompassing Caribbean nations, and samba schools from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Likewise, the Fair is known as the ” (sugar cane fair) and “Feria de la salsa” (Salsa music fair).

Individuals appreciate numerous activities like an opening cabalgata (parade of horseback riders), tascas (international food street), salsa concerts, bullfights (which are under a lawful debate), parades, athletic activities/competitions, and social presentations.

From an international standpoint, Cali is otherwise called the “Capital de la Salsa” given the city’s infatuation with that type of Afro-Caribbean music. Toward the beginning of July, there is additionally the Summer Salsa Festival which goes on for one week.

It typically incorporates shows by the world’s incredible excess salsa bands as well as dance shows and “melomano” competitions in which salsa experts attempt to outdo each other by digging deep into the archives of salsa music and related sounds to discover and uncover tragically missing tunes.