Festival Folclórico y Reinado Nacional del Bambuco
The Bambuco Pageant and Folkloric Festival is the largest and most important celebration in Huila Department and one of the most important celebrations in southern Colombia. It is celebrated annually in the city of Neiva during the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and attracts a considerable number of Colombian and foreign tourists. The festival was declared National Cultural heritage by the Congress of Colombia in 2006.
The Festivity is formed by three events, the Folkloric Festival, the Bambuco Pageant and the International Folklore Exposition. The Festival celebrates Bambuco music.
History
Since the 18th century, locals celebrated obedience to the Spanish monarch in the months of June and July, as well as the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint John. At the time, Saint John's Feast was a rural festivity while Saint Peter's was celebrated in the cities.In 1960, the festivities were officialized and the Festival Folclórico y Reinado Nacional del Bambuco were established.
Reinado Nacional del Bambuco
The Reinado Nacional del Bambuco is a contest similar to beauty pageants in which contestants, each representing a Colombian Department, are judged on six parameters: Performance of Sanjuanero dance, beauty, general knowledge, popularity, punctuality and performance of regional dance. Of these, the performance of the Sanjuanero dance grants the most points, followed by beauty. The contests' winner is declared as the National Bambuco Queen. It has been made in 57 uninterrupted editions from 1961 to 2017, the first winning department was Huila while the most recent and current winner of the title is Huila as well. In the 57 editions a total of 21 territorial entities have obtained at least one crown, the department that has won the most is the host department, Huila, with a total of 7 crowns, followed by Atlántico with 6, Meta and Caquetá both with 5 and Valle del Cauca with 4, the information of all the winning departments with their respective years is shown below:| Year | National Bambuco Queen | Department |
| 1961 | Luz Cucalón Garcia | Huila |
| 1963 | Rocio Cock Jaramillo | Antioquia |
| 1964 | Lucy Abuchaibe Ochoa | Atlántico |
| 1965 | Maria Cristina Lalinde | Valle del Cauca |
| 1966 | Martha Querubin | Bogotá |
| 1967 | Myriam Tovar Diaz | Meta |
| 1968 | Beatriz Eugenia Fajardo | Atlántico |
| 1969 | Maria Eugenia Gomez López | Cauca |
| 1970 | Liliana Gomez | Cundinamarca |
| 1971 | Luz Teresa Zamora | Tolima |
| 1972 | Lucy Abuchaibe Ochoa | Caquetá |
| 1973 | Melba Becerra Serrano | Santander |
| 1974 | Luz Stella Velandiaa | Bogotá |
| 1975 | Luz Marina Gonzalez | Santander |
| 1976 | Patricia Abello Marin | Atlántico |
| 1977 | Martha Isabel Gomez | Santander |
| 1978 | Raquel Garcia | Sucre |
| 1979 | Carla Maria Fattoni | Antioquia |
| 1980 | Maite Show del Rio | San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina |
| 1981 | Silvana Gonzalez Mortelo | Atlántico |
| 1982 | Gloria Patricia Farfan | Caquetá |
| 1983 | Maria Sther Espinosa | Córdoba |
| 1984 | Marixa Fernandez Fernandez | Huila |
| 1985 | Liliana Serrano Ochoa | Bolívar |
| 1986 | Diana Esperanza Rodriguez | Meta |
| 1987 | Sandra Maria Muñoz | Valle del Cauca |
| 1988 | Indira Maria Gutierrez | Cesar |
| 1989 | Naffy Sther Adarraga | Cesar |
| 1990 | Claudia Lorena Muñoz | Valle del Cauca |
| 1991 | Adriana Lucia Uribe | Huila |
| 1992 | Lina Maria Jaramillo Castaño | Risaralda |
| 1993 | Liliana Maria Merlano Valderrama | Atlántico |
| 1994 | Linda Abuchive Echavarria | La Guajira |
| 1995 | Ana Milena Gomez Henao | Caldas |
| 1996 | Liliana Andrea Lozano | Caquetá |
| 1997 | Maribel Lopera Sierra | Antioquia |
| 1998 | Heidy Johana Moreno | Meta |
| 1999 | Gloria Helena Garcia Cruz | Tolima |
| 2000 | Alicia Eugenia Bosi Martinez | Bolívar |
| 2001 | Larissa Fernanda Calderon Ortiz | Huila |
| 2002 | Leidy Sanchez Loaiza | Caquetá |
| 2003 | Marta Carolina Mora Acevedo | Atlántico & Barranquilla |
| 2004 | Valentina Cuervo Correa | Caldas |
| 2005 | Maria del Mar Tovar Gomez | Huila |
| 2006 | Dayana Zamara Delgado Contreras | Norte de Santander |
| 2007 | Beatriz Pinedo Pavon | La Guajira |
| 2008 | Diana Milena Ortiz Rojas | Meta |
| 2009 | Shadia Rujana Artunduaga | Huila |
| 2010 | Ana María Hernández Romero | Cundinamarca |
| 2011 | Zaira Karina Pérez Colina | Arauca |
| 2012 | Paola Andrea Novoa | Bogotá |
| 2013 | Natalia Andrea Fernández Copete | Meta |
| 2014 | Gabriela Garcia Giraldo | Valle del Cauca |
| 2015 | Gleidy Paola Joven Losada | Caquetá |
| 2016 | Valentina Bonilla Neira | Tolima |
| 2017 | Evelyn Tatiana Bello Yara | Huila |
By Department
| Department | Wins | Years |
| Huila | 7 | 1961, 1984, 1991, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2017 |
| Atlántico | 6 | 1964, 1968, 1976, 1981, 1993, 2003 |
| Caquetá | 5 | 1972, 1982, 1996, 2002, 2015 |
| Meta | 5 | 1967, 1986, 1998, 2008, 2013 |
| Valle del Cauca | 4 | 1965, 1987, 1990, 2014 |
| Antioquia | 3 | 1963, 1979, 1997 |
| Tolima | 3 | 1971, 1999, 2016 |
| Bogotá | 3 | 1966, 1974, 2012 |
| Santander | 3 | 1973, 1975, 1977 |
| Cundinamarca | 2 | 1970, 2010 |
| La Guajira | 2 | 1994, 2007 |
| Caldas | 2 | 1995, 2004 |
| Bolívar | 2 | 1985, 2000 |
| Cesar | 2 | 1988, 1989 |
| Arauca | 1 | 2011 |
| Norte de Santander | 1 | 2006 |
| Risaralda | 1 | 1992 |
| Córdoba | 1 | 1983 |
| San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina | 1 | 1980 |
| Sucre | 1 | 1978 |
| Cauca | 1 | 1969 |
Festival activities
- "Anselmo Durán Plazas" National Music Performing Contest.
- "Jorge Villamil Cordovez" National Music Composition Contest.
- "Inés García de Durán" National and International Dance Encounter.