Desfile de Salsodromo

I think that the best way of showcasing my experiences during the Feria de Cali is to split up the events. This post is all about the salsa parade.

Cali is consumed with salsa. Every club plays the music and every person knows how to dance it. The city takes great pride in its Rumba (party) lifestyle and it lives up to the hype. Although I have only been to a few places so far it is hard not to believe that Cali is truly the heartbeat of Colombia.

Under the hot Cali sun 5 hours of parade and music would ensue. The atmosphere was electric and the word FUN is enough to completely describe the vibe. The parade consisted of dance school after dance school performing a routine to blasting salsa music. The groups were organized in chronological order with the first group costumed as slaves from early Colombia and the last group concluding in modern attire. The dancing is unreal. Caleñas of all ages participated. Both younger (kids that looked as old as 7) and older (couples at least 70 years of age) entertained the crowd.

To just describe the parade would not be enough. The people around me made the event more special. You know when you go to a baseball game in America, and people try clapping in unison, and it seems everyone is off beat? ha, well that doesnt occur here. Spectators sang along with the lyrics of every song and we all would clap in sync. The day was filled with smiles, laughing, singing, dancing and more and more cowbell. If there was a break in the music then crowd would fill the void with their own beats.

Furthermore, I couldnt help but notice one another characterstic that was recognizable in the crowd. The African, European, and Indigenous ethnic backgrounds of the people here are all commingled and represented. It is a beautiful thing when people of all shades come together under a common love - in this instance music. The people of Cali are incredibly mixed and a de facto segregation is not apparent. It is both refreshing and laudable.

I am including this picture of me as proof I was there. It is difficult to be in your own pictures when traveling solo. I like this shot because of the three people looking into the camera with me. The next day I would go to the Cabalgata and a bullfight.