Afro-Colombian Cultural Events: Festivals and Annual Celebrations in Colombia
- Equipo Marimbea
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Explore some of the most important Afro-Colombian cultural events in Colombia celebrated every year. A curated guide to Afro-Colombian festivals and cultural gatherings that highlight traditional music, dance, ancestral knowledge, and community heritage across different regions of the country.
Carnival of Barranquilla
Place: Barranquilla, Atlántico
Estimated dates: February – March
Description:Heritage festival of the Colombian Caribbean with a strong Afro heritage. Cumbia, congos, and traditional dances make this carnival one of the most important cultural events in the country.
Petronio Álvarez Festival
Place: Cali, Valle del Cauca
Estimated dates: August
Description:The largest music festival of Colombia’s Pacific region. It celebrates marimba de chonta, traditional chants, and the ancestral Afro cuisine of the southern Pacific.
Website: https://www.instagram.com/petronioco
San Pacho Festivities
Place: Quibdó, Chocó
Estimated dates: September – October
Description:Afro-Chocoan celebration declared Intangible Cultural Heritage. It brings together chirimía music, comparsas, popular religiosity, and the collective memory of the Afro people of Chocó.
Website: https://fiestasdesanpacho.com.co
Carnival of Blacks and Whites
Place: Pasto, Nariño
Estimated dates: January
Description:Heritage carnival that celebrates Colombia’s cultural diversity, with Afro, Indigenous, and mestizo roots.
Green Moon Festival
Place: San Andrés Island
Estimated dates: September
Description:Afro-Caribbean festival that celebrates Raizal identity through music, dance, and the traditions of the insular Caribbean.
Negro Fest
Place: Bogotá / Medellín
Estimated dates: May / September
Description:Urban festival of contemporary Afro culture that brings together music, entrepreneurship, gastronomy, and artistic expressions of the African diaspora.
Marimba and Traditional Chants Festival
Place: Guapi / Buenaventura / Tumaco
Estimated dates: June – July / September
Description:Gathering dedicated to the marimba de chonta and ancestral chants of the Colombian Pacific, with the direct participation of tradition bearers.
Vean Ve!
Place: Guapi, Cauca
Estimated dates: December 22
Description:Community festival of marimba music and traditional chants from the Pacific, focused on the intergenerational transmission of knowledge.
Website: https://www.instagram.com/veanvegp
Cumbia Fest
Place: San Jacinto, Bolívar
Estimated dates: January
Description:Festival dedicated to cumbia in the region where this musical genre was born, with an emphasis on tradition, memory, and gaita music.
Gracias África
Place: Bogotá
Estimated dates: January
Description:Cultural event that celebrates African and Afro-descendant heritage through music, dance, and community gathering.
Afro and Afro-descendant film festivals and showcases in Colombia
Afro Showcase – Bogotá Cinematheque
Place: Bogotá D.C.
Estimated dates: May
Description: Annual showcase of Afro, Raizal, and African diaspora cinema, with a focus on identity, memory, and representation.
International Afro Community Film Festival Kunta Kinte
Place: Various cities
Estimated dates: October
Description: Afro community film festival that promotes narratives created from the territories and Afro-descendant communities.
Quibdó Africa Film Festival (QAFF)
Place: Quibdó, Chocó
Estimated dates: September
Description:Festival of African and Afro-descendant cinema with a community-based, educational, and territorial focus.
Literature, thought, and Afro oral traditions
FLECHO – Festival of Reading and Writing of Chocó
Place: Chocó (itinerant)
Estimated dates: August
Description: Afro-centered gathering that promotes reading, orality, writing, and critical thinking within the communities of Chocó.
Website: https://www.instagram.com/flecho.co
Cultural travel, itinerant events, and artistic residencies
Marimbea
Description: Community-based cultural tourism platform that designs immersive experiences around music, nature, and Afro knowledge from Colombia’s Pacific region.
Website: https://marimbea.com
Casa Kilele
Description: Space for creation, artistic residencies, and Afro cultural gathering.
Website: https://www.casakilele.com
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