The "Feria de las Colonias" may be the coolest fair ever, it has music, dance, items for sale and food from all the areas of Colombia.
I walk pretty fast all over the grounds to see all the music and dance I can manage. There are groups of mature musicians playing with perfect finesse, and young dancers and singers who always do a high energy show. The dance in this picture is called the joropo, its like a very fast clogging. The harp in North America is a gentle instrument, in the northen part of South America (I mean Venezuela and Colombia) it is a guy's instrument and played very fast, and is part of this plains area tradition.
I have loved Andean music from the first time I ever heard it. I have heard so many kinds and can't think of any style I don't like, (though I favour the Bolivian style.)
The current trend seems to be fusion with a lot of other influences including Carribean, reggae, jazz, and believe it or not, native North American styles. It is not your grandma's music, but the cleverness of the combinations is wonderful.We take every opportunity to eat chiguiro and the fair is a great place for that.
Chiguiro is called "capybara" in English, and tastes like a fine-grained pork. Our friends are with us, and we are eating it with fresh-squeezed juices, potatoes and guacamole, and roast corn. I'm not much for a chunk of protein sitting on a plate, but I do like chiguiro
