Cali Fair
Encyclopedia
Santiago de Cali
Santiago de Cali , simply referred to as Cali, is a city in western Colombia and the capital of the Valle del Cauca Department. With a population of 2.5 million, Cali is the third largest city in the country. It has one of the fastest growing economies and infrastructure in the country because...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. It is a celebration of the region's cultural identity, famous for the Salsa marathon, horse riding parades and dance parties.
Called "La Feria de Cali" (The Fair of Cali). "La Feria de Cali" is the main cultural event on the Pacific Coast of Colombia, and in the City of Cali which is 2 hours away from the Pacific Coast, and is home to almost 3 million people. The Fair has been celebrated since 1957, from December 25 to December 30, and it promotes cultural, ethnical, and musical diversity in the region. In a few occasions the Fair included Vallenato and Merengue groups from Colombian and surrounding Caribbean countries, and samba schools from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Also, the Fair is known as the "Feria de la Caña" (sugar cane fair) and "Feria de la salsa" (Salsa music
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
fair). People enjoy many activities like an opening cabalgata (parade of horseback riders), tascas, salsa concerts, bullfights (which are under a legal dipute), parades, athletic activities/competitions and cultural exhibitions.
As the city’s people’s conscious grow towards a more animal friendly environment, there has been a lot of controversy for the part of the fair that involves bullfighting. Although, the majority of the city’s people see it as an act of cruelty and abuse towards the animals, the few that control and organize the event see it as part of a tradition and culture that should be maintained, resulting in a legal battle between animal rights' groups and the event organizers.
From an international stand point Cali is also known as the "Capital de la Salsa" given the city's infatuation with that type of Afro-Caribbean music. In early July there is the Summer Salsa Festival which lasts for one week. It usually includes concerts by the world's great remaining salsa bands as well as dance shows and "melomano" competitions in which salsa connoisseurs try to out do each other by digging deep into the archives of salsa music and related sounds to find and reveal long lost tunes.