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In the southwest of Antioquia, about 100 kilometers from Medellín, is the town of Ciudad Bolívar, known as the “cradle of muleteers.”
Surrounded by mountains and coffee plantations and with a clear agricultural vocation, each year this municipality pays tribute to these traditions with the Arriero Festival (Fiestas del Arriero), celebrated in November.
The festivals are a celebration of the rural culture of Antioquia. They open with a bicycle race and the traditional sancochada in which this typical Colombian dish is prepared in huge pots that boil on stoves installed in the town's central park.
Peasant markets are also held to display and sell the best of the region's crops, among which coffee clearly stands out.
You can also find beans, bananas and yucca grown in Ciudad Bolívar. The central square of the town is the scene of live musical performances and cultural displays of dance and trova, and in the streets of the municipality there are parades with typical costumes and traditional donkeys and mules carrying packages of coffee and other products.
The Arriero Festivals (Fiestas del Arriero) are a colorful tribute to the rural tradition of the department of Antioquia, celebrating the drive, industriousness, joy and kindness of the Paisa muleteer.
