Feria de las Flores Kickoff

For the first day of the Feria de las Flores (Flower Festival), a few new friends and I went to Parque de los Pies Descalzos to watch fireworks and see a live concert.  The fireworks were great, when I was watching the people.  I‘ve been told they are far less common than they are in the United States, and everyone was pretty excited for them.  The concert was great with thousands of people enjoying the music, and dancing the night away.  That was probably the most people with shoes on that the “barefoot” park has ever seen.

We eventually made our way to a small reggae bar in Envigado where there were street style dancers from a few local schools, as well as a few live reggae bands.  One man performed a couple of skits.  I couldn’t understand much of it, but I know they were funny.  They also showed a couple (really bad) short films.  The club would have been amazing if I liked reggae, but honestly, I didn’t feel moved by any of the music.

The next day was the cavalcade (horse parade).  I forego it in order to look at a room I’m considering renting, but I did catch glimpses of it from the Metro.  There where thousands of people on the streets, and they were close enough to pet the horses as they went by.

Vendors were set up literally everywhere.  They were just feet from each other, selling many kinds of delicious food, flashy sombreros, candies, gum, clothing, jewelry, and random knickknacks.  The whole atmosphere was exciting.

There are events setup at different shopping centers around the city.  I went to see an automobile display and a Japanese Bonsai display.  They were both interesting, and the city has obviously gone through a ton of trouble to put together every event.

After sunset, the streets began to fill with people.  Several roads are blocked off for the street parties.  It was weird to see all of the open-air restaurants empty, as everyone took to the streets and small bars.  I personally have never seen so many people in one area before.  Overall, the city is pulsing with excitement…it’s completely impossible to escape it!