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TLDR? The Medellin Flower Festival 2022 was held in person after two years of virtual activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
You’ve quite probably heard this before, but Medellin is one of the most visited cities in Colombia. That’s true regardless of where in the world you’re coming from!
One of the major reasons why Medellin is such a popular tourist destination is thanks to the annual Flower Festival.
This guide breaks down everything you need to know about the Medellin Flower Festival, or Feria de los Flores 2022.
The first Medellin Flower Festival was launched in 1957 when the city’s flower farmers held a festival to honor one of the city’s oldest traditions: flower farming.
Since those early days, the festival has, of course, come a long way. Rather than being an informal gathering of a few farmers, it’s now a huge festival with international artists.
The flower festival usually takes place over a week in August and features various food, concerts, and flower-themed activities.
What’s unique about this year’s festival is that, thanks to the Big C, Medellin hasn’t hosted an in-person flower festival for three years. In other words, 2022 is going to be the first time since 2019 that this festival takes place!
Whether you’ve been planning on checking out the Flower Festival for all that time or you just discovered it, we can definitely tell you that it’s going to be a doozy.
People are clamoring to say goodbye to Covid-19 and to start getting back into party mode, so this year is expected to be one big event.
The Medellin Flower Festival 2022 had quite a lot of events going on, all scattered around the city. This table breaks down the events, but we’ll also go over them in more detail below.
| Event | Date | Location |
| Launch of the Flower Festival | July 27 | Aeroparque Juan Pablo II |
| Obelisk Innaugural Concert | August 5 | Stadium Sector |
| Ball de las Flores | TBD | Aeroparque Juan Pablo II |
| Vasquez Building Flower Decorations | August 5 – 15 | Vásquez Building |
| Music and Food in Pueblito Paisa | TBD | Pueblito Paisa |
| Party in Parque de los Deseos | TBD | Parque de los Deseos |
| Escenerio Colombia | TBD | Ciudad del Rio |
| Todos Somos Uno | TBD | Teatro Pablo Tobón Uribe |
| Parque de las Flores | TBD | Parque Juanes de la Paz |
| Escenario Infantil | TBD | Parque Norte |
| Bicycle Parade | TBD | The Whole City |
| La Feria en Mi Corregimiento | TBD | Santa Elena, San Cristóbal, San Antonio de Prado, Altavista, San Sebastián de Palmitas |
| Art Circuit of Medellín | Barrio Colombia, Provenza, Perpetuo Socorro, Palacio Nacional | |
| Don Omar y Juan Luis Guerra The Kings Concert | August 12 | Anastasia Giradot Stadium |
| Silletero Parade | August 15 | Avenida del Rio |
The Flower Festival kicked off with a concert featuring national artists as well as local food stalls. There were multiple fairground activities and experiences, too.
Although the exact start time is still to be determined, the event is set for July 27th in the Aeroparque Juan Pablo II. Rumor has it there were roughly 10,000 people in attendance!
If there’s one thing Colombians love, it’s dancing, and at the Flower Festival, opportunities to sway your hips always abound.
The festival has a ton of different concerts, all featuring different genres and musical styles.
There is also a mix of paid and free concerts to attend, so if you’re not looking to shell out a bunch of money on tickets, you can still listen to some good jams.
In 2022, there were a couple of specific concerts that feria-goers could listen to.
The inaugural concert featured both national and international artists. The big concert was on August 5th, and was definitely an event to remember!
Although the start time still hasn’t been confirmed, the date is set for the 5th of August. Stay tuned so you don’t miss the details on starting times and set lists!
Although initially only King Don Omar had been confirmed as the main artist, Dominican Juan Luis Guerra ended up joining him onstage
The event took place on August 12, 2022, with doors opening at 4:00 pm and the concert lasting until 3:00 am.
Another concert festival-goers could check out was Todos Somos Uno, which took place in the Pablo Uribe Theater. The concert featured traditional music and showcased some of the best national and international artists out there!
As with most years, the Vásquez Building was covered from head to toe in flower decorations. You could swing by to check this out starting August 5th, and visitors enjoyed the decorations until after the festival ended.
During the festival, you could go inside the building to check out beautiful flower arrangements. It was the perfect place to snap a selfie!
Pueblito Paisa always comes alive with music, food, and fun during Feria de las Flores. There’s no set date or time, but you can always take a hike up Nutibara hill to check out what’s going on there during the festivities!
There were a couple of big parties during the festival, including the big fiesta in Parque de los Deseos and the Ball de las Flores.
Here’s what else to know about these big events.
In Parque de los Deseos there were two events. First, there was the cultural, ethnic, and gospel music blasting by day.
Then, there was the Semi-international Festival of the Troubadours. You probably have no idea what a troubadour is, but in Colombia, they’re a well-loved tradition. Troubadours in Colombia are poets who come up with words on the spot as they sing along to plucky guitar tunes.
What’s cool about these guys is that they make up the words to the poems and have battles against other troubadours. They’ll be given a topic at random and then have to take that topic and run with it.
At the Flower Festival, the best national troubadour is selected. It’s a tradition of the festival and one that many people look forward to every year.
Pro Tip: The trouble with this part of the festival is that it’s all in Spanish. You might want to brush up on your language skills so you can really enjoy this if you go next year!
The Ball de las Flores was an event to celebrate diversity. Rumor has it there were even drag queens and other performers strutting their stuff at this spectacular event.
This was a square filled with traditional food from the region. It was a great place to go for a break or a chat with friends while you waited for the next event to start.
There were also some great handicrafts and artisans selling their wares, so it was the perfect time to pick up some souvenirs to take home!
Much like what goes on in Pueblito Paisa, Parque Juanes de la Paz comes alive with flowers and fun most years during the flower festival. As a theme park, that made it a great place for families with kids to head to.
Parque Norte was transformed into a family oasis. There, your little ones could participate in the Children’s Troubadour Festival.
Or, you could simply enjoy the family-friendly activities in the park. Either way, the festival planners definitely kept the kids in mind.
Every year, bikes adorned with flowers make their way through the city as part of the flower festival. Anyone can join this activity, and it can be a great way to take a bike tour and see some more of Medellin.
The Flower Festival always encourages people to check out the flower farms in Santa Elena, San Sebastián de Palmitas, Altavista, San Cristóbal, and San Antonio de Prado.
Santa Elena, in particular, is known as the birthplace of the silleteros, and is where the flower farms grow their wares to display in the silletero parade.
Of course, you can check them out at any time, not just during the flower festival. Head over there to see how a silleta is built from scratch!
The art circuit of Medellín is a show that was put on by galleries around the city. Head over to neighborhoods like Provenza or Palacio Cultural to check out art displays crafted especially for the festival!
The big showstopper at the Flower Festival, and the reason why everyone goes there year after year, is thanks to the parade of silleteros. This event features flower farmers who put together stunning floral arrangements on silletas, which are big wooden boards.
Each silleta weighs roughly 140 lbs, which is no small feat. The flowers are typically arranged in patterns or drawings that represent Colombian culture.
Then, they carry those flower arrangements on their backs in a parade through Medellin. The farmers spend weeks leading up to the festival organizing and prepping for the big parade. It’s truly a work of art and something you don’t want to miss!
The event in 2022 was August 15th, the last day of the festival. It’s certainly something you should see if you go back in future years!
Chiva buses are popular during two times of year: Christmas and the Flower festival. These traditional vehicles are brightly colored and blast music, giving you a unique way to tour the city. During the 2022 festival, you could definitely see these buses roving around town!
The orchid is the national flower of Colombia, so it’s no surprise that there’s a whole event dedicated to them. Head over to the Botanical Gardens to check out these beautiful displays during the festival days, or just stroll the gardens on a free afternoon!
Note: While the Botanical Gardens are usually one of the many free things to do in Medellin, this is usually a paid event.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m in contact with the Medellin Tourism Office which means I’m getting all the dirty details as they’re published.
Stay tuned and come back to this post for all the latest information. I’ll keep updating it as soon as I get more information so that you can be fully prepared for the Flower Festival this year!
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