Rock Al Parque festival of Bogota city

The Rock al Parque festival, which means Festival In The Park,  is an amazing event that comes to Bogota city every summer. It is always organized by the Secretariat of Culture and Sports courtesy of Bogota’s local authorities. Some of the other artistic genres featured here include salsa, opera, hip-hop and Zarzuela. The greatest genre here is Columbian music, locally known as Colombia al parque.

There is also a section of this summer music festival which is known as “Boys and Girls at the Park” and it literally targets children. This is another reason why you need to bring your kids along for a unique summer adventure. It is only at this festival where children are given a special treat which is quite a novel approach considering that such are reserves for adults. Surprisingly enough, this festival has its origin in youth meetings that were taking place in Planetario Distrital as far back as 1992.

The main inspiration that saw the birth of the Rock al Parque festival is a singer by the name Mario Duarte. He was a member of ‘La Derecha’, a defunct band. Mario Duarte is the one who went to seek support from Institute of Culture and Tourism in Bogota. Julio Correal, a businessman, a staunch supporter of rock music, also contributed greatly to the success of the first Al Parque festival which was held in different venues of the outdoor theater that is popularly known as ‘La Torta Media’ between May 26 and 29, 1995.

A year later the Rock al Parque festival became completely free for anyone to attend. Many people who attend the festival in the park always appreciate its importance in maintaining the uniqueness of  Bogota city. It should be borne in mind that the festival almost died in 1998 when authorities failed to put it on the list of priority issues that would lead to maintenance of Bogota’s cultural heritage. The Council of Bogota saved this interesting summer music festival by declaring it as cultural heritage festival of Bogota city.

The main event during this summer adventure is always made of live music and many presentations from popular musicians from all over the world. Rock al Parque festival is also characterized by seminars, conferences, lectures and workshops which are always addressed by academics and many other categories of guests.

During its inception, many people thought that the Rock al Parque festival fun would forever remain exclusively for rock musicians. This was not to be since it was difficult to maintain vibrancy without welcoming performers who specialize in other summer music genres. The festival is today the best summer convergence point for R and B, reggae and blues singers. Many bands present different genres on different days and this is where the summer music festival fun lies.

It has always been a tradition for the festival to take place in three days at the Simon Bolivar Park. Radionica Station conducts interviews with all the groups that perform immediately after the festival in the park apart from broadcasting the event live. Canal Capital radio also broadcasts all these performances.

During the 2008 edition of the festival, Philharmonic Orchestra, a Bogota performance group, was the main organizer with the help of the Secretariat of Culture. The main hindrance to the event was rain. This notwithstanding, everything went well and the participants had a great time witnessing the best of creativity from 24 national groups as well as 14 international music groups. Bands like Bloc City, Carcass, Gondwana and Doctor Krapula were the main summer highlights in this unique South American festival.

The national bands that present different summer music genres during Rock al Parque festival are chosen through three main stages; pre-selection followed by presentation and then finally live auditions. A jury delegate presides over the whole selection process. International bands are always invited by the organizing committee. This is what makes the summer music festival very unusually unique and diversely ordered.

The most amazing thing about this festival fun is that alcohol sale or cigarette smoking is not allowed, despite being an outdoor festival. All the festivals begin at 1 pm and end at 10 pm as a matter of tradition. Metallic belts are not allowed into the venue. Taking off shoes and socks is part of routine security checks, so donít be surprised when the security officers on duty make these requests.

During the third edition of the summer festival in 1997, 87 bands made performances in the largest event in the festival’s history. The lowest number of bands was recorded in 2002 with only 25 bands participating. Attendance to this festival reached its highest level in 2004 when about 400,000 people spectators witnessed a thrilling summer festival fun.

The motto of the festival in 2003 was ‘Because good things remain’. In 2008, it was ‘Life, highest respect’. These mottos hint at the values that Bogota and Colombia stand for. This is how rich the cultural heritage of the Bogota city is. For this reason, you have a unique motivation to try out a South American summer adventure by attending the Rock al Parque festival.

Tags: de, festivals, funhunter, what makes bogota unique, Festival in Bogota City, Rock Al Parque festival of Bogota City