In mid-July in Arenal, head of the municipality of San Estanislao de Kostka in the north of Bolívar, the traditional corralejas, a characteristic festival of the region, take place. 

These bullfights, which take place in a bullring improvised with guadua and cane, differ from traditional bullfighting in that local fans participate in the corralejas and bravely and skillfully face the bulls selected from local ranches and from other departments such as Sucre and Córdoba.
 

At the beginning of the year, the municipality of Arenal in the south of Bolívar holds its Festival of Return (Festival del Retorno), to celebrate the return of the Arenal residents in other cities in the country, who have returned to the town since December to spend the holidays with their families.
 
One of the main events of the festival are the intercolony competitions, small Olympics in which teams from the sand colonies in cities such as Bogotá Medellín, Bucaramanga or Barranquilla compete against each other in different sports events and traditional games.

In honor of the ancestral Afro-Colombian culture of the Caribbean coast, the Palenque Festival of Drums and Cultural Expressions (Festival de Tambores y Expresiones Culturales de Palenque) is held every year in mid-October in San Basilio de Palenque, in the jurisdiction of the municipality of Mahates.
 
The origin of this population is strongly rooted in the resistance against slavery during the Colony, being founded by slaves who escaped from their masters in Cartagena, led by Benkos Biohó. 

Between the end of January and the beginning of February, the festivities are celebrated in Cartagena de Indias in honor of Our Lady of Candelaria (Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria), patron saint of the city whose festival is commemorated on February 2.
 
The festivities begin with the traditional night of candles, a night parade with dance and folk music and the participation of different local troupes that celebrate the traditional culture of the region.

In October, the Mompox Jazz Festival is held in Mompox, a colonial jewel of the department of Bolívar, one of the most important festivals dedicated to this musical genre in the country.
 
During the festival, Mompox receives prominent national and international artists, who offer open-air concerts. Musicians from Mompos and from other places in the department fill the streets of the town with music with street jazz.
 

Holy Week, celebrated in the historic city of Santa Cruz de Mompox, is one of the most important and traditional religious commemorations in the country. Declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation, this festival stands out for its deep devotion and cultural richness.
 
During Holy Week, Mompox becomes a scene of solemnity and fervor, keeping alive customs that date back to the colonial period and that are strongly influenced by Andalusian culture, resembling the Holy Week traditions of cities like Seville and Malaga.
 

On August 6, Bogotá celebrates its birthday. That day, on the eve of the national holiday of Colombia's Independence, commemorates the founding of the city in 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in the vicinity of the Muisca town of Bacatá.
 
The capital's birthday is celebrated with a delicious cultural offer for all tastes and much of it free. One of the central events of the festival is the emblematic Parade of Comparsas, one of the largest parades in the country, in which groups from each of the towns of the city participate. 

The Egypt neighborhood, a neighborhood of popular tradition built on the slope of the hills to the east of the historic center of Bogotá, celebrates at the beginning of the year the Festival of the Three Kings (Fiesta de Reyes y Epifanía del Barrio Egipto), a centenary celebration that was declared District Heritage in 2005.
 
Since the 18th century there are records of novena prayers and celebrations around the feast of the Epiphany and the patron saint feast of Our Lady of Egypt, patron saint of the neighborhood, on January 6 and 7 respectively. 

The Bogotá International Book Fair - FILBO (Feria Internacional del Libro Filbo) is one of the most important literary events in Latin America. Normally held between April and May in Corferias, this fair attracts thousands of visitors, including authors, publishers, booksellers and reading lovers from all over the world.
 
FILBO is a space where culture, education and the love of books are promoted, offering a platform for interaction between writers and readers. 

Since 1988, the Bogotá Ibero-American Theater Festival (Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro De Bogotá) has been held biennially, one of the most important theater festivals on the continent and in the Spanish-speaking world, as well as the largest performing arts festival in the world.