The Bogota region, with its surrounding municipalities, is a vibrant music festival destination. It is home to some of Colombia’s largest and most popular festivals; a wide variety of free and paid live music events covering all genres, such as Rock al Parque and Estéreo Picnic, attract thousands of people from the continent each year.
In 2012, Bogota was recognized by UNESCO as the “Music Capital of the Americas” for its musical heritage, which encompasses a wide variety of musical genres and styles, from classical music and jazz to traditional Colombian music and popular music.
Get to know part of the agenda of music festivals that take place annually in Bogota:
Organized by FUGA, it is known as the festival of the sounds of difference. It has been held in downtown Bogota since 2010, as a platform for urban and diverse sounds of local, national and international groups and soloists.
Colombia al Parque
Location: Parque de los novios
Web: https://colombiaalparque.gov.co/2023
Date: March 18-19
Festival organized by Idartes, that brings together traditional, folk and popular music and creative and innovative languages. Its programming also includes diverse cultural manifestations, through dance, gastronomy, entrepreneurship and academic activities.
Estéreo Picnic
Location: Golf course, Briceño
Web: https://www.festivalestereopicnic.com
Date: March 23-26
This festival, which has been held annually since 2010 (except for pandemic times), although is part of a circuit of private Latin American festivals, differs from the others by having a number of exclusive guests. Estéreo Picnic, under the slogan “A different world”, brings together for four days more than 130,000 people who travel to Briceño, a municipality in the Bogota region, from various Latin American corners to listen live to international and national groups and soloists of various genres.
International Classical Music Festival
Location: Julio Mario Santo Domingo Theater
Web: https://festivalmusicaclasicadebogota.org/
Date: April 5-8
It convenes annually the best national and international classical performers around the works and composers of a particular period. In 2023, the theme of the festival is: Bogota is France: the Belle Époque.
Monsters of Rock Festival
Location: El Campín Stadium
Web: https://www.entradasamarillas.com/event/monsters-of-rock
Date: April 15th
This festival is a legendary international heavy metal touring brand that has taken since the eighties, around the world, the most emblematic metal bands. In Bogota it has already been successfully held twice at the El Campin Stadium. In 2023 the festival will feature Kiss, Scorpions, Helloween and Deep Purple.
Baum Festival is the most important electronic music event in the country.
This year it reaches its seventh edition, and expects more than 40,000 attendees, techno and house music lovers.
Free stage where salsa is the main atraction. Organized by the Mayor’s Office of Bogota, through Idartes, it is the platform for emerging and consolidated Colombian and Latin American groups and orchestras.
Hip Hop al Parque
Location: Parque Simón Bolívar
Web: https://hiphopalparque.gov.co/
Date: July 2 and 3
With more than 120,000 attendees in its latest version, this emblematic free and open-air festival has been taking place for 25 years. It presents great exponents of Hip Hop culture in its different branches: Rap, Break Dance, DJs and Graffiti.
Festival Interviolas
Location: Conservatorio de Música de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Web: https://festivalinterviolasbogota.com/
Date: September
Biannual festival organized by the Conservatory of Music of the National University of Colombia, brings together violists from Colombia and Latin America and other guest artists.
Sacred Music Festival
Location: Several stages
Web: https://festivalmusicasacra.com/
Date: September
It was founded in 2012 as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council; it is an annual event, which aims to disseminate sacred music, with respect for the diversity of beliefs. It lasts 4 weeks with daily concerts throughout the city, in emblematic scenarios of the Colombian capital: churches, temples, theaters, auditoriums, schools, universities, prisons and clinics.
Jazz al Parque
Location: Parque El Country
Web: https://jazzalparque.gov.co/
Date: September 9th-10th
For 25 years, this open-air platform gathers more than 40,000 people to listen live to this musical language, represented in multiple rhythms of different origins. It is characterized for being an exponent of the evolution of jazz in Colombia and Latin America, for emerging and consolidated projects and for groups in the process of strengthening.
Rock al Parque
Location: Parque Simón Bolívar
Web: https://rockalparque.gov.co/
Date: November 11-13
One of the most beloved festivals by the capital, it has reached up to 400,000 attendees. Free and open-air, it has become an emblem of the Latin American rock scene in its 28 years of existence.
Cordillera
Location: Parque Simón Bolívar
Web: http://www.cordillerafestival.com
Date: Date to be defined
The first edition of Joropo al Parque was held in 2022, with the participation of 17 thousand people in the Plaza de Bolivar. It was a family event, with exponents of llanero folklore. The district is considering the possibility of holding this festival annually in Bogota.
Joropo al Parque
Location: Plaza de Bolívar
Web: https://bogota.gov.co/que-hacer/cultura/joropo-al-parque-2022
Date: Date to be defined
More than 60,000 people attended the first edition of this Latin American sound festival in 2022. Its second edition is expected in the second half of the year.
Ópera al Parque
Location: in places
Web: https://filarmonicabogota.gov.co/opera-al-parque-2022/
Date: Date to be defined
Organized by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota, it has been held for more than 25 versions to bring this genre free of charge and outdoors. Its objective is to demystify opera as a genre that only belongs to the elite, presented only in large formats and in luxurious theaters.
Knotfest
Location: Location to be defined
Web: https://knotfest.com/colombia/
Date: Date to be defined
Knotfest Colombia is the franchise of the extreme music festival: Knotfest, created by the group Slipknot. Inaugurated in 2012 in the United States, the first Colombian version was held in 2019.
