Festival of the Leyenda Vallenata

The festival

Valledupar is the capital of a music: the vallenato, a narrative song of the Colombian Caribbean, carried by the diatonic accordion, the caja and the guacharaca, inscribed in the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO. Since 1968, its Festival of the Leyenda Vallenata crowns the best performers of its four traditional "areas" — paseo, merengue, sound and puya — in competitions of accordion, new song and pikeria, the improvised duel of verses sung.

The 60th edition, from April 28 to May 1, 2027, will be exceptional: it will be a "Rey de Reyes" edition, where the former kings compete for the supreme title, with for the first time a "Reina de Reinas" — and, rather than an individual tribute, the celebration of the festival's sixty editions.