The official launch of the 63rd version of the Bambuco Festival was held in San Juan and San Pedro, at the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in the city of Bogotá, an event held this Wednesday, May 22. Nearly 1,300 visitors filled this emblematic cultural venue in the country’s capital.
“I bring this effusive greeting from the people of a region that is proud of its origin, of what we are and what we represent.”were the emotional words of the Governor of Huila, Rodrigo Villalba Mosquera, at the launching ceremony of one of the most important festivals in the country, those of San Juan and San Pedro, which are experienced mainly in the capital of Huila and are scheduled to take place between June 14 and July 1, 2024.
The launch, held at 7 pm, met the expectations of the public attending the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo, who was captivated by the artistic representation of more than 140 artists accompanied by the majesty of the Huila Symphonic Band.
«Huila is an agricultural power. Coffee, fish farming, rice, livestock, panela, pig farming, bee farming, beans, avocado, among others. It is one of the five food producing departments par excellence in Colombia. “Huila is a tourist power, especially in rural tourism,” stated Governor Villalba.
«Without excess in regionalism, we can say that we have everything from desert to snowy, Colombian massif, the great river of the country, all the thermal floors, landscapes, thermalism, the hand of the Giant, the magical coffee route, the Cave of the Guácharos and the jewel in the crown: scientific, cultural and international tourism, around the San Agustín Archaeological Park. “We also have nature tourism in Isnos, the Caja de Agua de Paicol, San Andrés de La Plata and the religious sanctuaries of the west,” he added.
Parties for everyone’s enjoyment
As the purpose was to highlight the Bambuco Festival to the country, it was possible to offer an important sample not only of Huila’s artistic talent, but also of an exquisite opita gastronomy that included the achira cake from Fortalecillas, the Yaguareño cheese, the alfandoques , Huilense roast, Pitalito coffee, Isnos panela, Rivera Cholupa and Gigante cocoa, among other products and tourist attractions of Huila.
«Today we envision that we can also be a generating power of sustainable energy, that of the transition, that of the future. We have folklore, our traditions, our traditional festival of San Juan and San Pedro. One of the most important festivals in the country and that we are promoting tonight, which have colonial origins, where the end of the harvests was celebrated, which coincided with San Juan Day, traditions that took root and we saw them uniting with the festivities. of Saint Peter. From the initial religious sphere, we have gone to a more cultural and commercial one, with the influx of tourists maintaining the backbone of our traditions and folklore,” continued the leader of the Huilenses.
While visitors to the launch enjoyed the main folklore show, “San Juan and San Pedro: A Festival from the Soul of Huila”, that managed to convey the grandeur of the Magdalena River that rises in the Huila territory, the governor of Huila reminded everyone that this Bambuco festival was created by Ordinance in 1959, and since then, it has been celebrated with all the rigor and commitment of all Huilenses, based in Neiva.
San Juan and San Pedro, Cultural Heritage of the country
«Our festivals are a Cultural Heritage that we have preserved and that is part of Huila Grande. The festivals of San Juan and San Pedro will always be a space for reunion with our huilensidad. Of kind people, who, with fervor, have made themselves heard. “He knows how to welcome tourists and make them feel at home,” said Villalba Mosquera.
After appreciating the steps of the Sanjuanero from Huilense, the cultural heritage of the folklorist Inés García Durán, born in Neiva in 1928, attendees were delighted with the eight steps that identify this opita melody: Invitation, The Eights, Flirting, Kneeling, Lifted of the foot, Drag of the wing, Secret and Final exit.
«This presentation at the emblematic Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogotá, is the invitation for all Colombians to get the ball rolling now in the month of June, and enjoy cultural expressions, tourism and recreation, such as also of our gastronomic and landscape benefits, the joy and warmth of the Opita people, and enjoy as a Family, the 63rd version of the Bambuco Festival in San Juan and San Pedro, where we will wait for you with open arms,” concluded the governor of Huila, Rodrigo Villalba Mosquera.
