Today I want to talk about one of the reasons why Colombia is a great place to visit; this is the variety of festivals and carnivals that exist here throughout the year, including arts, music, folk, and cultural festivals among others. It makes Colombia a country full of joy and passions despite the difficulties.

Throughout each year Colombia has around 20 public holidays in which people can celebrate and enjoy this variety, but the most special months are between December and February.

December is a very special month for Colombian people, because it is Christmas and most people have holidays to take pleasure in the different events. One of these is the Festival of Lights in Villa De Leyva where the whole town is decorated with Christmas ornaments and lights. As well as this tourists can take part in the pyrotechnic games and performances choirs carry out, among other activities.

During this month the people can also enjoy the Cali Fair where you can see the best dancers of Salsa music and participate in different fashion shows and concerts of famous Salsa singers and others musical genres. This fair is awesome because during 5 days many people from different countries can take pleasure in this celebration.

In New Year star the other festivals in different cities such as Blacks and Whites Carnival in Pasto-Nariño which takes place from 2^nd to 7^th of January, for these 5 days the city arranges parades, all people can use costumes and paint their bodies and many more activities.

In January you can find more variety of parties in other cities like Festival International of Music in Cartagena, Manizales Fair, and Festivals of Corralejas in Sincelejo, among others.

But the parties never finish in Colombia, because in February the most important folkloric celebration is held, its name is Carnival of Barranquilla and has the slogan “Those who live it are those who enjoy it”. For 4 days all people and foreigners that come to Barranquilla can enjoy parades like the Battle of Flowers, the great tradition and folklore parade, the Great Fantasy Parade and the Orchestras Festival, and many other activities and concerts of many national and international singers of different genres such as Vallenato, Salsa, Merengue, Tropical and others, but during these parades you can listen typical music and mix of cumbia, porro, mapale, gaita, and fantastic merecumbés.

In Colombia we have many festivals and carnivals and it is difficult describe all in only one post, but today I want to invite you to visit Colombia and join the celebrations because they are very cheerful. To finish I want to talk about the Festival of Flowers in Medellin which you can see the fantastic work of peasants and amazing flowers of Colombia.

Deisy, Upper-Intermediate