The Feria de las Flores runs for about 20 days from the end of July to the middle of August. The main days are 3rd to 7th August, when the city comes alive with events, displays, parades and a lot of drunk Colombians!
The days were spent seeing the displays and parades, and the nights partying at open-air concerts. First up was a trip to the botanical gardens, where there was a display of orchids, flowers and birds. There were hundreds of wacky and colourful displays, with judges awarding prizes for the best ones. I must admit, this was stretching our love for flowers but myself, Nikki and Emma had a lot of fun anyhow.
An unexpected bonus was finding that the botanical gardens have a butterfly enclosure. Huge, hand-sized butterflies were floating around and the colours were amazing. Yes, I love butterflies!
In five locations around the city, 8m high statues (made of flowers, of course) had been erected to celebrate the Feria. Someone pointed out that this was clearly a gimmick to get people to visit those locations. Well it worked, across three days I visited all five statues - here they are:
OK, so they were not the most mind blowing sights in the world, but it totally paid off. One of the statues was near the football stadium of Independiente Medellín. Myself and Maili, a Colombian girl, asked the security guard if we could go in. To our surprise, he said yes!
One of the biggest events of the Feria was the parade of classic cars. In true Colombian style, we pitched up on the side of the road, cracked open a few beers and waited for the cars to arrive. Rich Colombians dressed up in old-style clothing chugged along waving to the crowds and honking their horns. I was pretty impressed by what was on display - the oldest car was from 1928.
The biggest event was the parade of the silleteros - where flower farmers from all across Colombia walk down the streets carrying flower displays on their backs. There were some huge displays in lots of different styles and some were so extravagant that it was hard to believe they were really made from flowers!
So! That's the end of my Colombia trip. It has been an amazing two months... I have heard from the Consulate that my new passport has arrived in Cartagena, hurrah!! So it's off to Cartagena and then to Panama - central America here I come! Here are some more pics from the Feria.
Workers placing flowers for one of the statues.
Preparing the flowers for the statue - a big job!
I dunno how this guy gets on his bike in the morning - possibly from the roof - but I would not want to fall off it!
Even the dogs got into the spirit of the Feria!
Dancers wave their flags before welcoming the silleteros to the parade.
A big brass band!
Dancing girls at the car parade.
Lots of silleteros showing off their flowers.
One of the biggest events of the Feria was the parade of classic cars. In true Colombian style, we pitched up on the side of the road, cracked open a few beers and waited for the cars to arrive. Rich Colombians dressed up in old-style clothing chugged along waving to the crowds and honking their horns. I was pretty impressed by what was on display - the oldest car was from 1928.
The biggest event was the parade of the silleteros - where flower farmers from all across Colombia walk down the streets carrying flower displays on their backs. There were some huge displays in lots of different styles and some were so extravagant that it was hard to believe they were really made from flowers!
So! That's the end of my Colombia trip. It has been an amazing two months... I have heard from the Consulate that my new passport has arrived in Cartagena, hurrah!! So it's off to Cartagena and then to Panama - central America here I come! Here are some more pics from the Feria.
Workers placing flowers for one of the statues.
Preparing the flowers for the statue - a big job!
I dunno how this guy gets on his bike in the morning - possibly from the roof - but I would not want to fall off it!
Even the dogs got into the spirit of the Feria!
Dancers wave their flags before welcoming the silleteros to the parade.
A big brass band!
I cannot believe these flowers are real. Apparently they are made by cross breeding three kinds of rose.
Dancing girls at the car parade.
Lots of silleteros showing off their flowers.
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