Every August in Medellín the most important festival of the year "La Feria de Las Flores" (the festival of flowers) takes place. It consists of parades, a pageant, automobiles, and many musical concerts. This year La Feria de las Flores will be from July 29th to August 7th. The first Festival of the Flowers took place on May 1, 1956 and was organized by Arturo Uribe, a member of the Board of the Office of Development and Tourism. The festival lasted for 5 days with an exposition of flowers displayed in the Metropolitan Cathedral, which was organized by the Gardening Club of Medellín and monsignor Tulio Botero to celebrate Virgin Mary day. This flower parade represents the end of slavery when instead of flowers slaves carried men and women on their backs up steep hills.
The festival is known throughout Colombia and is the most important festival for Antioquia. Its essentially a week of partying, with displays of beautiful flowers throughout the city along with other fun events.
Here is a promotional video/song for the upcoming Festival of Flowers in Medellín for 2011 !! Enjoy!
Katie, that looks like the most fantastic time. I was raving about you to the new MC OGX, learning that Medellin is first, most definitely not pronounced "MedelLIN" but "MedeJIN" and that your town is one of the nicest in the country. Just thought I'd let you know in case your ears were burning yesterday. ;) Don't worry, it was nothing but good!
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