Flower pots are a very sweet tradition aimed at godchildren.
- The San Antonio Hill, the Bulevar del Río, the Pan-American Park, the Plaza de Caicedo, the Cali Public Library Network, the Loma de la Cruz, the Inter Hotel and the La Alameda Gallery and 15 shopping centers in the city They will be part of the scenarios.
- From June 26 to July 1, this festival of a very Cali tradition will take place.
- There will be 3 components that will shape the festival: the cultural and recreational component, the pedagogical component and the commercial component.
From June 26 to July 1, Cali will celebrate its 2024 Flower Pot Festival, a space in which the Cali identity, the tradition of alfeñique flower pots and the renewal of the bond between godchildren and godfathers will be celebrated. The San Antonio Hill, the Bulevar del Río, the Pan-American Park, the Plaza de Caicedo, the Cali Public Library Network, the Loma de la Cruz, the Inter Hotel, the Alameda Gallery and 15 shopping centers in the city will be part of the stages that will make the city vibrate with the best of this sweet Cali tradition.
“We are proud to preserve this magical tradition and to present to the city this new version of the festival that celebrates sponsorship and that bond between godchildren and godparents, a bond that is synonymous with the union that we have between Caleños and Caleñas with our territory and our customs. “Everyone is invited to this sweet party that is part of the strategies to safeguard this Cali tradition,” highlighted Leydi Higidio, Secretary of Culture of Cali.
For this year, the festival’s programming includes, among its unmissable interactive routes, live cooking workshops, book presentations, exhibitions, artistic and cultural presentations and the exchange of knowledge between sugar craftsmen and women from Cali and Mexico, the country which this year will be present within the framework of the festival and with which the tradition of dulce de alfeñique is shared.
“This is a Cali tradition for which we have to feel proud, giving a pot is giving love and it is what we need most in Cali. For this reason, I invite all godparents to give pots to their godchildren and enjoy all of our culture,” highlighted Alejandro Eder, mayor of Cali.
In total, there will be 3 components that will shape the festival: the cultural and recreational, oriented towards the promotion and visibility of the manifestation based on artistic and cultural expressions, where using theatrical recreational strategies, the public will be able to learn about the history and legacy of tradition in the city and the pedagogical component that focuses on generating training processes and transmission of knowledge to safeguard the manifestation over time.
Added to the above mentioned is the commercial component, which focuses efforts on the sale and marketing of the pots as a strategy that enables the sustainability of the bearers of the tradition.
Sweet Pot Museum
One of the fun and educational spaces of the festival will be the sweet flowerpot museum, located in the Public Improvement Society of Cali and which will have permanent programming, from June 25 to 30.
The museum will have 4 focuses:
History and memory: focused on the memory of tradition, the festival and the flowerpot as an ephemeral object of enormous symbolic and identity value for the city.
Craft fair: will offer the community the purchase of alfeñique pots and other crafts that pay tribute to tradition.
Exchange of knowledge and training: a space for conversations and live cooking workshops aimed at the Cali community that allow for the exchange of knowledge around the pot tradition.
Leisure and cultural activations.
The museum’s programming will be from June 25 to June 29, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sweet Pot Route
For this version of the festival, the Association of Women Artisans of Alfeñique Pots, Asomacetas, will carry out the Ruta dulce de la olla, a playful and educational experience that immerses participants in a tour of emblematic places in the historic center of Cali to learn everything about the tradition of celebrating godchildren with alfeñique pots. The route is a journey accompanied by staging of characters alluding to the Cali pots demonstration.
The route will have 4 stations, within which topics such as heritage, alfeñique candy, the emergence of the Dorotea myth and the elements that are part of the pot will be discussed. These stations will be distributed throughout heritage and historical spaces of the city such as San Antonio Hill, the Public Improvement Society, Caicedo Plaza and Bulevar del Río.
Station 1 San Antonio Hill – Patri’s world: The intangible heritage and the importance of preserving the traditions of the region are recounted.
Station 2 Public Improvement Society – The craftswoman’s workshop: space in which a sugar artisan will show how alfeñique candy is prepared and visitors will be able to taste the preparation.
Station 3 Plaza de Caicedo – The myth of Dorotea: The station will represent the myth of the pots, the creation of alfeñique candy and the emergence of the tradition of celebrating godchildren with alfeñique candy.
Station 4 Bulevar del Río – Magic elements: The last station of the route will recreate the elements that make up the pot, which, through staging, will tell the importance of being in this element.
It is worth noting that the route will take place on June 27, 28, and 29, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., starting at San Antonio Hill and ending at Bulevar del Río.
pedagogical component
This component will focus on the processes of training and transmission of knowledge to safeguard the manifestation over time. The component will make it possible to hold 15 live cooking workshops as a strategy for transmitting knowledge; 6 training workshops that will be held with educational institutions at the pot museum and 2 conversations.
This programming will take place in the libraries of the Cali Public Library Network and in the cultural centers of the network.
Commercial component
This component is aimed at the sale and marketing of the pots as a strategy that enables the sustainability of the carriers to safeguard the manifestation over time. The participation of artisans is planned in 15 shopping centers with around 100 stands, in addition the artisans will be in galleries and market squares.
Chipichape, Único, Calima Shopping Center, Jardín Plaza, La Estación, Palmetto Plaza, Unicentro, Holguines, Santiago Plaza, Alfaguara, Premier Limonar, Centenario and Mall Plaza are some of the spaces where there will be a stand selling pots. Added to these spaces are the Public Improvement Society, the Intercontinental Hotel, the Alameda Gallery and the Loma de la Cruz.
Programming
June 26 – 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
Sale of pots
June 27th
10:00 am – Stands opening
3:10 pm – Start of the godson’s route
9:00 pm Closing of stands
June 28th
10:00 am – Stands open
3:10 pm – Start of the godson’s route
9:00 pm Closing of stands
June 29
10:00 am – Stands opening
3:10 pm – Start of the godson’s route
6:30 pm – History of the pot video screening
9:00 pm Closing of stands
June 30th
10:00 am – Stands open
3:10 pm – Live cooking workshop
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Artistic presentations
1st of July
10:00 am – Stands open
3:10 pm – Live cooking workshop with artisans from Mexico
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Artistic presentations
June 27th
10:00 am – Stands opening
5:00 pm – Godson Route
9:00 pm – Stands close
June 28th
10:00 am – Stands opening
3:50 pm to 8:00 pm – Artistic presentations
5:00 pm – Godson Route
9:00 pm Closing of stands
June 29
10:00 am – Stands opening
4:40 pm to 7:40 pm – Artistic presentations
5:10 pm – Godson Route
9:00 pm Closing of stands
June 29
10:00 am – Stands opening
4:10 pm – Theatrical activation about the pot and its history
4:40 pm – Live cooking workshop
9:00 pm Closing of stands
June 30th
10:00 am – Stands opening
4:10 pm – Theatrical activation about the pot and its history
4:40 pm – Live cooking workshop
9:00 pm Closing of stands
June 27th
10:00 am – Stands opening
4:10 pm – Godson Route
6:00 pm Closing of stands
June 28th
10:00 am – Stands opening
4:10 pm – Godson Route
6:00 pm Closing of stands
June 29
10:00 am – Stands opening
4:10 pm – Godson’s route
6:00 pm Closing of stands
Communications Secretary of Culture
