Hardly a colonial gem nor a year round destination, Valledupar is famous for a couple of things. Vallenato music, political intrigue and the river Guatipuri.
One could say that Valledupar is a functional city. It has a little of most thing and a lot of Vallenato. When the Festival comes around, a yearly event that entails five days of absolute mayhem in the last week of April, you would be well advised to bring your drinking shoes.
Whisky is easier to get hold of than water in this week. Parrandas - parties - have been known to start at 6am and only stop when the power cuts out or all revellers fall exhausted where they once were propped up.
Start in the Plaza Alfonso Lopez, the centre of the colonial town and then follow the crowds. Most people during the festival will head at some point or another to the Parque de la Leyenda Vallenata, a custom built arena with the sole purpose of accommodating the thousands of people who flood into Valledupar for the party.
Vallenato could be loosely interpreted as folk music, but is free of the uncool stigma attached to folk. Children, adolescents, parents and grandparents alike can be found dancing to the four strains of Vallenato music, puya, son, paseo and merengue. More aggressive than the Ranchera music of Mexico and far less sexy than the Tango of Argentina, Vallenato music is reaching an international audience spanning from Venezuela and Mexico to parts of Germany and Eastern Europe
The three principal instruments represent the different facets to the Colombian identity. The accordion, brought to these shores in the pirate ships at the latter end of the 18 th Century, represents the colonial and therefore European background. The guacharaca - an instrument somewhat delivering the same sound as a washboard or spoon along a cheese grater, is a traditional indigenous instrument. And the caja drum is something directly from the slaves hauled to this continent from African countries such as Guinea. All of these instruments mixed together in a pressure cooker like Valledupar and accompanied by a vocalist perhaps go some way to explaining the complexities and paradoxes of the Continent.
Air - Satena has one flight a day in the low season - 55 minutes. They do put on more during the festival. You are advised to book and reconfirm in high season.
