Every year for nearly a whole month, this Caribbean city gets bursts into life to celebrate the 3^rd biggest Carnival in the world (after Rio and Venice).

Barranquilla, City of Happiness!

Hometown of Shakira, “Golden Gateway” to the Caribbean Coast, Barranquilla is a city full of cultural treasures and is known for its culture of joy, its rich nightlife and sense of celebration.

Declared American Capital of Culture in 2013, Barranquilla offers many colonial riches to discover, as well as wonderful natural sites, and Cienagas in the surroundings. Spend a few days in the City of Happiness, go and visit the Modern Art Museum, the Theatre Amira de la Rosa, the Church and Plaza San Roque, the Zoological and Botanical Foundation of Barranquilla, la Cinemateca del Caribe… You will have the opportunity to enjoy parties, nightclubs, music and dance, a great source of pride for Barranquilleros.

An event of global importance

There are many festivals organized in Barranquilla during the whole year, but there is a particular one that attracts more than one million visitors from all over the world: the famous Barranquilla Carnival! It is an event that came from Spain in the colonial times. During the slave feasts in Cartagena de Indias, the African slaves paraded in traditional costumes, singing and dancing in the streets. Today, this event celebrates traditions that were kept alive for more than three centuries. Proclaimed Masterpiece of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2003, Barranquilla’s Carnival is a celebration you don’t want to miss

Traditionally, the Pre-Carnival is officially opened by La Lectura del Bando, when the Mayor gives the keys of the city to the Carnival Queen, and they read the “playing rules” so that good humor and the smooth progress of the festivities is guaranteed and above all, so that the experience is etched on the memories of those who attend!

Three reasons not to miss the Barranquilla Carnival

Many parades of incredible beauty

La Guacherna, the children’s Carnival Parade, the Flower Battle, the Great Parade of traditions and Folklore, the Great Parade of Fantasy… So many shows of a thousand colors, dance and music… It is a unique opportunity to discover wonderful traditional costumes and take pictures to make your friends green with envy. You will also see some “royal” people parading: King Momo, satirical character who was originally the presiding officer of the Feast of Fools, the Carnival Queen, the children’s Carnival Kings and Queens, the Queen of Queens, and many Queens of Beauty…

The expression of Colombian folklore in all its forms

There is nothing quite like this event to discover the treasure of Caribbean culture. With the participation of more than 500 folkloric organizations, orchestras and many national and international artists, music and dance awaits you: vallenato, salsa, merengue, tropical and urban music…

At night, the party never ends

The Carnival is such a big event that the Barranquilleros, proud and eager, start to prepare at the beginning of January. This celebration, that formally should last four days, gets extended over several weeks and the party never gets stops. Between concerts, festivals, nightclubs and bars that never get full; if you like to live through the night, you won’t get bored for one moment.