Vallenato Legend Festival
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| Vallenato Legend Festival | |
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| Location(s) | Colombia |
| Years active | every year since 1968 |
| Date(s) | End of April (usually four days) |
| Genre(s) | Vallenato, Folk |
| Website | www.festivalvallenato.com |
The Vallenato Legend Festival (English for Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata) is one of the most important musical festivals in Colombia. It’s celebrated every year in April in the city of Valledupar, Department of Cesar.
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[edit] Origins
Its origin dates back to 1968 when the celebrated vallenato composer Rafael Escalona, the then governor of the state of Cesar and former president of the republic of Colombia, Alfonso López Michelsen, and the writer, journalist and former Minister of Culture Consuelo Araújonoguera, came up with the idea of organizing a festival that celebrated vallenato, a musical genre that’s autochthonous to Colombia’s northern atlantic coast and also celebrate a religious festivity of "The Virgin of the Rosario". Since 1986, the organization of this festival rests in the hands of the Fundación Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata (Vallenato Legend Festival Foundation) a non-profit private entity in charge of the promotion, publicity and defense of vallenato music as one of the immaterial cultural legacies of Colombia.
The Legend: The legend says that during the Spanish colonial period, two amerindian tribes from the Tairona culture; the Tupes and the Chimilas, along with other members of other tribes, rebelled against the Spanish colonizers after one indigenous woman named Francisca who worked as a maid for a Spanish family was severely punished by her jealous master, who cut her hair and whipped her publicly. One of her fellow Indian tribesmen also working for the Spaniards, escaped and told his tribe's cacique about this offensive insult. The angry Indians organized an attack, destroying most of the town and killing many people. When trying to destroy the temple, the "Virgin of the Rosario" appeared and with her cape blocked their arrows preventing them from destroying it. The natives, scared, escaped to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and knowing that the Spaniards would follow them and would be in need of drinking water, they poisoned the "Sicarare lake". This resulted in the eath of all the Spaniards involved. The Virgin reappeared and began touching their bodies with her wand and reviving them. The surprised Indians finally surrendered.
[edit] The Contests
Without a doubt, the most important event during the celebration of this festival is the vallenato musical contest. The winners are chosen by a vallenato experienced jury that evaluate the contestants’ prowess in the four main rhythms which are paseo, son, puya and merengue. There are several categories in which the contestants may participate including: "professional accordion player", "amateur accordion player", "young accordion player", "best new vallenato song", and piquerías (verse singers).
Besides the annual winners, there’s also a special award given to renowned vallenato composers and performers, a statuette known as La Pilonera Mayor, which is given in recognition of the recipient’s dedication to vallenato music. La Pilonera Mayor is the highest honor given to a vallenato musician in Colombia and only six composers have received it until now. This award is given in honoris memoriam of disappeared Consuelo Araujonoguera.
- Judges for competitions are selected by the Board of Directors of the Vallenato Legend Festival Foundation (Fundacion Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata) and must be affiliated members.
[edit] King of Kings
The Rey de Reyes festival editions occur every 10 years, since 1987 and only previous winners can participate.
[edit] Winners
La Pilonera Mayor Award: Emiliano Zuleta Baquero, Rafael Escalona, Leandro Díaz, Calixto Ochoa, Adolfo Pacheco and Tobías Enrique Pumarejo.
| No | Year | Professional Accordion Player | Amateur Accordion Player | Juvenile Accordion Player | Infant Accordion Player | Composer of New Vallenato Song | Winning song | Piqueria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1968 | Alejo Duran | none | none | none | none | none | none |
| 2 | 1969 | Nicolas Mendoza | Emiliano Zuleta Diaz | none | none | Gustavo Gutierrez | Rumores de viejas voces | none |
| 3 | 1970 | Calixto Ochoa | Emilio Oviedo | none | Ciro Meza Reales | Freddy Molina | El indio desventurado | none |
| 4 | 1971 | Alberto Pacheco | Carmencito Mendoza | Antolin Arias | Adiel Vega | Santander Duran | Lamento Arhuaco | none |
| 5 | 1972 | Miguel Lopez | Ciro Meza Reales (Semiprofesional: Alberto Rada) | none | Luciano Poveda | Camilo Namén | Recordando mi niñez | none |
| 6 | 1973 | Luis Enrique Martinez | Egidio Cuadrado (Semiprofesional: Álvaro Cabas) | none | Raúl Martínez | Armando Zabaleta | No vuelvo a Patillal | none |
| 7 | 1974 | Alfredo Gutierrez | Alberto Villa (Semiprofesional José María Argote) | none | Gustavo Maestre | Nicolas Maestre | El Hachero | none |
| 8 | 1975 | Julio De la Ossa | Raúl Martínez (Semiprofesional: Luis Villa) | none | Orangel Maestre | none in 1st place | none in 1st place | none |
| 9 | 1976 | Nafer Duran | Álvaro López (Semiprofesional: José María Ramos) | none | Fernando Dangond | Julio Onate | La Profesia | none |
| 10 | 1977 | Jose Maria Ramos | Adiel Vega | none | Navin Lopez | Alonso Fernandez | Yo soy Vallenato | none |
| 11 | 1978 | Alfredo Gutierrez | Carlos Arrieta | none | Jose Alfonso Maestre | Octavio Daza | Rio Badillo | none |
| 12 | 1979 | Rafael Salas | Alvaro Lopez | none | Jose Vasquez | Pedro Garcia | El Poeta Pintor | Andres Beleno |
| 13 | 1980 | Elberto Lopez | Navin Lopez | none | Hugo Carlos Granados | Tomas Dario Gutierrez | Voz de acordeones | Luis Manjarrez |
| 14 | 1981 | Raul Martinez | Alvaro Meza | none | Miguel Avendano | Fernando Dangond | Nacio mi Poesia | Wilman Rodriguez |
| 15 | 1982 | Eliecer Ochoa | Gonzalo Molina | none | Jose Lopez | Gustavo Gutierrez | Paisaje de Sol | Antonio Salas |
| 16 | 1983 | Julio Rojas | Segundo Vanegas | none | Raul Vega | Julio Diaz | Yo soy el accordion | Alcides Manjarrez |
| 17 | 1984 | Orangel Maestre | Carlos Bracho | none | Aider Vega | Juvenal Daza | La Espinita | Alcides Manjarrez |
| 18 | 1985 | Egidio Cuadrado | Omar Geles | none | Gustavo Osorio | Emiliano Zuleta Diaz | Mi Accordion | Jose Villero |
| 19 | 1986 | Alfredo Gutierrez | Hugo Carlos Granados | none | Juan David Herrera | Rafael Manjarrez | Ausencia Sentimental | Ivo Diaz |
| 20 | 1987 | Nicolas Mendoza | Omar Geles | none | No 1st place | Santander Duran | La Cancion del Valor | none |
| 21 | 1988 | Alberto Villa | Hildelmaro Bolanos | none | Ivan Zuleta | Marciano Martinez | Con el alma en la mano | Juan Oviedo |
| 22 | 1989 | Omar Gelles | Juan Carlos Ovalle | none | Harold Rivera | Jose F. Mejia | Puya Almojabanera | Luis M. Onate |
| 23 | 1990 | Gonzalo Molina | Juan David Herrera | none | Jaime Bornacelli | Jose F. Mejia | No hay tierra como mi tierra | Rafael Zuleta |
| 24 | 1991 | Julian Rojas | Alvaro Meza | none | Saul Soto | Gustavo Calderon | Mementos del ayer | Jose Bornacelli |
| 25 | 1992 | Alvaro Lopez | Juan Jose Granados | none | Franklin Vega | Hernando Marin | Valledupar del alma | No 1st place |
| 26 | 1993 | Alberto Rada | Manuel Vega | none | Victor Beltran | Ivo Diaz | Dame tu alma | Alcides Manjarrez |
| 27 | 1994 | Julio Rojas | Ivan Zuleta | none | Sergio Luis Rodriguez | Ivan Ovalle | Yo vivo enamorado del valle | Guillermo Arzuaga |
| 28 | 1995 | Freddy Sierra | Harold Rivera | none | Sergio Iguaran | Hortensia Lanao | Que hago Senor? | Andres Barros |
| 29 | 1996 | Juan David Sierra | Moises Polo | none | Marlon Gonzalez | Alfonso Cotes Maya | La cabeza de Pavajeau | Wilman Felizzola |
| 30 | 1997 | Gonzalo Molina | Hugo Carlos Granados | none | Sergio Luis Rodriguez | Emiliano Zuleta Diaz | Mi pobre valle | No 1st place |
| 31 | 1998 | Saul Lallemand | Ramon Villa | none | Angel Torres | Luis Cujia; Ramiro Garrido; Sergio Moya; Luis Ramirez | Yo soy el cantor; Yo soy el son; recuerdos de viejos tiempos; puya del folklor | Jose Ariza |
| 32 | 1999 | Hugo Carlos Granadaos | Deivis Rivera | none | Manuel Jose Martinez | Felix Carrillo; Winston Muegues; Antonia Daza; Deimer Marin | Mi pobre accordion; los barrios del valle; el orgullo de nacer; maestro de maestros | Julio Cardenas |
| 33 | 2000 | Jose Maria Ramos Jr. | Nemer Yesid Tetay | none | Luis Jose Villa Guete | Santander Duran Escalona | Cantares de vaqueria | Jose Bornacelli |
| 34 | 2001 | Alvaro Meza Reales | Christian Camilo Pena | none | Yosimar Rodriguez | Winston Muegues | La Estratificacion | Julio Salas |
| 35 | 2002 | Navin Lopez Araujo | Marlon Gonzalez | none | Camilo Carvajal Cuadro | Melquisedec Namen Rapalino | Vestida de gloria | Jose Felix Ariza |
| 36 | 2003 | Ciro Meza Reales | John Jaider Suarez | Luis Villa Guete | Jairo De la Ossa Otero | Martha Guerra | Un soncito tolimense | Teobaldo Penalosa |
| 37 | 2004 | Harold Rivera | Omar Hernandez | Fernando Rangel Molina | Carlos Mario Ramirez | Guillermo Doria Borrero | Raices de Oro | Jose Felix Ariza |
| 38 | 2005 | Juan Jose Granados | Angel Torres Arroyo | Mauricio de Santis | Camilo Andres Molina | Julio Cesar Daza | Sueno Vallenato | Julio Cardenas |
| 39 | 2006 | Alberto Jamaica | Rodolfo de la Valle Escorcia | Javier Rogrigo Alvarez | Jesus Ocampo Ospino | Ever Jimenez | El Valle es tú casa' | Ruben Ariza |
[edit] Dances and other events
Piloneras Parade: This traditional dance was recovered from extinction in 1994 thanks to the Vallenato Legend Festival Foundation effort, and was added to the festival's programing as the opening show. This dance is traditional of the magdalena river reveres. Traditionally Dancers paraded on the streets using a giant wooden mortar and pestle, (usually used to squash corn and produce corn floor), the men and women danced around the "corn smashing' in a courteous and flirting way, dancing in front of friend's houses to receive liquor in exchange. But the festival kept the dance and turn it into a competition among groups of Piloneros and whoever exposes the best show becomes the winner. There are three categories; Infants, youth and adults.
Other events:
- Record labels present their best artists and orchestras through out the Festival, usually before, during recess of events and after competition.
- Many Nightclubs and Event Centers offer alternative parties with vallenato musical groups and other orchestras.
- Certain families affiliated to this Festival often throw open "parrandas" or parties to special guests and friends.
- The Festival also sponsors cultural activities related to the festival; debates, symposiums, panel discussions, traditional storytelling, paintings expositions, artesanias and book expositions, among other cultural events.
- Valledupar and surrounding towns have cockfight arenas, that have tournaments during the Festival dates. This sport considered brutal for some represent a major attraction for locals and some tourists, but are not sponsored by the Vallenato Legend Festival. This sport is a strong traditional hobby for some locals (passion for some) mixed with vallenato "parrandas" and lots of gambling.
[edit] Posters
 2006 |
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) Official Site
