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I would also like to recommend our Colombia travel guide, which provides a perfect overview of the tourist attractions in Colombia. Enjoy reading it!
Las Fiestas del Mar
The Fiestas del Mar (Sea Festival) is the most important event in Santa Marta. They take place every year in July. At the same time, the anniversary of the city’s founding is on July 29th. The festivities last between 5 and 6 days and bring together thousands of people enjoying culture, music and water sports. It is an opportunity to learn more about the historical and natural wealth of this region with the Caribbean Sea, the Sierra Nevada and Tayrona Park. The most important event is the beauty contest.
Location
This festival usually takes place on the main beaches and coves of Santa Marta. So we recommend visiting the official website.
Number of participants
About 200,000 visitors.
Free admission?
Generally free entry. However, some events are chargeable.
Cultural activities and additional services
- Live music concerts
- Events and culinary demonstrations with typical dishes from the region
- Vallenato music competitions
- Events that combine water sports such as surfing, kayaking and sailing with live music and dancing
- Traditional fishing festivals and exhibitions
- Folklore parades highlighting the cultural and ethnic richness of Santa Marta
- National and international beauty and modeling competition to represent maritime heritage
- Photo competitions that invite you to capture the best images of the sea and the city
- Meetings and conversations about music genres
Why should you attend the Fiestas del Mar?
In addition to the water events and cultural immersion activities, participating in this festival will allow you to learn about Samarian customs and understand and experience the importance of the sea to its culture and identity.
Samaria Traditional Cuisine Festival
It is a gastronomic event as part of the Sea Festival. The aim of the festival is to highlight the diversity and taste of the region’s typical dishes, based on products from the sea and the land. In July, three days of local and regional food exhibitions will be held, with more than 120 local chefs competing in four categories. The focus is on traditional main dishes, typical desserts, typical street food and traditional fried foods. In addition, the festival has become a place where Santa Marta’s cultural and gastronomic heritage is celebrated and appreciated.
Location
This festival takes place in various coastal areas of the city, such as bays and beaches.
Number of participants
Between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors.
Free admission?
Yes, access to this gastronomic event is free. However, if you wish to participate in gastronomic tastings, there will be a cost.
Cultural activities and additional services
- Cooking competitions with typical dishes in different categories
- “Show Cookings”, where chefs demonstrate their techniques and secrets in preparing dishes
- Food stalls offering fried foods, local foods and haute cuisine dishes
- Workshops, lectures and exhibitions about the culture of Samarian cuisine and the processing of each of its typical ingredients
Why should you attend the Samaria Traditional Cuisine Festival?
During the event you can taste delicious specialties. In addition, participating in this festival allows you to immerse yourself in the local culture.
Artisan Fishing Festival
The aim of this fishing festival is to highlight and promote both the culture and profession of local fishermen. In July, coinciding with the Sea Festival, during one day several fishermen take part in various competitions such as boat and canoe racing, pearl fishing, nylon fishing, open water swimming, fishing exhibition and Chinchorros weaving.
In addition, the festival offers fishermen and their families the opportunity to sell their raw or prepared fish products as well as local sea crafts. This festival is a tradition that has been maintained for more than 50 years to highlight Samarian identity and folklore.
Location
Depending on the year and organization, the festival takes place on the different beaches or communities in the district. That’s why we invite you to visit the official site.
Number of participants
3,000 to 5,000 spectators.
Free admission?
Yes
Cultural activities and additional services
- Discussions about the experiences and knowledge of the fishermen’s trade
- Fishing net competition in which fishermen demonstrate their ability to weave the nets they use for fishing
- Fishing competition where fishermen compete with hook and line to catch the biggest fish
- Fishing competition for pearls and sea jewels on the seabed
- Markets and stalls where you can buy different types of fish and fresh sea ingredients
- Canoe racing
- Pirate duel in which participants dress up and take part in sea battles with water pistols
- Challenges for adults with physical tests at sea, such as overcoming obstacles, solving puzzles or transporting objects
Why should you attend the Festival de Pesca Artesanal?
By attending this festival, you can learn more about the relationship between the Samaritans and the sea. It is an opportunity to discover and practice each of the ancestral techniques used by local fishermen in this region for generations.
Photo Marathon
The Photo Marathon highlights and promotes photography as an artistic and cultural form of expression and offers amateurs and professionals a space to showcase their talent and creativity. During the month of July, for a day coinciding with the Sea Festival, participants take photographs around a series of themes or requirements that are outlined at the start of the event.
The photos must be original, unpublished and taken on the same day of the event in order to be subsequently evaluated based on criteria such as technical quality, composition, originality and relevance to themes. The diversity and richness of Santa Marta should be reflected. For example: mountains, sea, colonial and modern architecture, etc.
Location
Depending on the year and the organization, it takes place in different parts of the city, for example in the historic center of Santa Marta, but also on beaches, museums, parks and highly touristy places.
Number of participants
Not specified.
Free admission?
Yes, but registration required: Website
Cultural activities and additional services
- Photo competitions by category (professional, amateur )
- Emblematic routes with the most attractive places in the city to photograph
- Analog and digital photo exhibition with the best photos of the event participants
- Workshops and courses in photography, composition, lighting and editing
- Conversations with professionals
- Photography fair where services or products such as cameras, accessories, books, magazines, etc. are exhibited
Santa Marta Folklore Parade
The desfile Folclorico de Santa Marta is a folkloric and cultural event of the city and the Caribbean. It consists of a parade in which more than 160 groups take part and in which dances, music and costumes are shown. The parade usually takes place in July, coincides with the dates of the Sea Festival and lasts only one day. This festival has captivated thousands of tourists and visitors from all over the world. Today it is an artistic expression that aims to highlight the identity and cultural diversity of Santa Marta, the oldest city in the entire country.
Location
Camellon de la Bahía, in the historic center of Santa Marta, is a heavy tourist coastal road bordering the Caribbean Sea.
Number of participants
About 80,000 spectators.
Free admission?
Yes, access to this folkloric parade is free for all spectators.
Cultural activities and additional services
- Exhibition of typical dances of the region, such as Cumbion, Bullerengue, Puya, Mapalé, etc.
- Exhibition of costumes with allusions to the sea, fauna and history of Santa Marta
- Exhibition of traditional music from the region ( vallenato, porro, merecumbé, etc.)
- Participation of popular beauty queens
- Folklore groups with guests from other regions of the country
- Participation of representative personalities of Samarian culture
- Local music bands
- Handcrafted patterns made by local indigenous people from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
- Troop competition in the categories folklore, fantasy, urban and collective or individual costume
Why should you attend the Santa Marta Folk Parade?
In addition to the folklore show full of local groups, it is an opportunity to learn first-hand about Santa Marta’s ethnic roots. In addition, the Camellon de la Bahía is one of the most emblematic places in the city.
National Film Festival
The National Festival Caja de Cine lasts 4 days in June. There are three competition categories: documentary, feature film and commercial, in which short films from professionals and amateurs from all over the country take part. In its first edition in Cartagena, the first venue in 2023, this festival screened 121 short films from 47 cities, municipalities and departments of the Colombian territory.
Location
In future editions, it will take place in various locations in the historic center of Santa Marta, including the Santa Marta Theater, Plaza de Bolívar and Parque de los Novios.
Number of participants
2,000 and 3,000 participants.
Free admission?
Yes
Cultural activities and additional services
- Masterclass, lectures and panels with academic activities
- Exhibition spaces for short films in competition by category (documentary, feature film and commercial)
- Music strip featuring renowned local and national musicians
- Animation workshops
- Photography workshops and development of techniques for capturing images
- Script and story workshops for film or television
- Exhibition areas for products and handicrafts of local artisans
- Documentary film course services
- Gastronomic tasting service with typical dishes of the region and the country
Santa Marta Carnival
The Carnaval de Santa Marta is an annual festival that celebrates the culture, history and joy of the Samaritans and all their visitors, and where you can enjoy a wide range of musical, artistic, folkloric and gastronomic events. It usually takes place in February and lasts 4 days. The main event is the costume event with colorful, creative costumes, floats and troops that tour the main streets of the Pescaíto district.
In addition, this festival was the first carnival to take place in the Colombian Caribbean in the 18th century and was one of the sources of the emblematic Carnival of Barranquilla.
Location
The Pescaíto neighborhood, Calle 10 No. 6, corner of Comuna 3, Santa Marta, Magdalena.
Number of participants
Around 100,000 participants.
Free admission?
Yes
Cultural activities and additional services
- Costume parade, troops and joie de vivre, rides through streets and neighborhoods with music and dancing
- Coronation of kings and queens
- Musical performances of traditional Caribbean genres
- Float parade
- Parade of typical carnival characters such as King Momo, the People’s Queen, Marimondas and Garabato
- Competition of traditional dances of the region
- Services with dining areas with typical Caribbean dishes
Jaguar Festival
The Festival del Jaguar is a cultural gathering aimed at honoring the territory and spirit of the jaguar. The festival takes place every January and lasts one day and offers numerous cultural activities. There are music concerts about indigenous music, folklore, art, gastronomy and many other activities. Visitors can take part in some performances.
This festival has an important social and environmental component as it supports conservation projects for the jaguar, which lives in the ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Therefore, this festival is the only event in Colombia that celebrates the figure of the jaguar as a symbol of strength, wisdom and harmony.
Location
The festival takes place in Palomino, a village in Dibulla in La Guajira. However, the starting point is usually Santa Marta, as this is the closest city and many tourists start their tour from there. Palomino is about 80 km from Santa Marta, usually a two-hour drive by land.
Number of participants
1,000 and 3,500 participants.
Free admission?
No.
Cultural activities and additional services
- Guided meditation rooms to reconnect with the territory
- Traditional weaving classes using traditional techniques of the Kogui, an important indigenous tribe in the region
- Visual art with murals, live art and video mapping
- Live music with artists, DJs, national and international bands
- Typical dance courses from the Caribbean
- Educational workshops on music, art, entrepreneurship and environmental protection
- Areas with ecotourism, hiking and bird-watching activities
- Local businesses selling crafts, souvenirs and collectibles
- Gastronomic zone services with diverse flavors and regional culinary experiences
Why should you attend the Palomino Jaguar Festival?
This event gives you the opportunity to participate in conservation initiatives and projects run by environmental organizations and indigenous communities. It is also an opportunity to admire the jungle landscapes and understand the role of the jaguar in the regional ecosystem.
Caiman Festival
The Caimán Festival is a popular festival celebrated every year in the municipality of Ciénaga, in the Magdalena department. The festival is a tribute to the caiman, an animal that represents the identity and culture of Cienagueros and is currently threatened with extinction. Its origin comes from a legend that says a fisherman caught an alligator and brought it to his home, where he stuffed it and turned it into a festive symbol.
The festival takes place in January and usually lasts between 4 and 8 days. It offers cultural activities such as float parades, folk festivals, musical performances and voting for the best alligator costume.
Location
Municipality of Ciénaga, in the department of Magdalena, about 35 km from Santa Marta, about 44 minutes by land.
Number of participants
About 7,000 and 10,000 visitors.
Free admission?
Yes.
Cultural activities and additional services
- Float parade where representations of the alligator are displayed and the best are selected
- Beauty Queen’s Choice
- When the alligator is burned, a figure of the animal is set on fire as a symbol of renewal.
- Presentation of local and national artists with typical music and dances
- Choosing the best alligator costume where creativity is rewarded
- Exhibition of local handicrafts
- Painting competitions
- Visit to the Ciénaga monument, where the alligators are located
- Restaurant service with typical local dishes
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