Traditions of Colombia that maybe you did not know

From end to end, our country is full of customs, rituals, beliefs and all kinds of festivals. All this is part of the traditions of Colombia, which not only refers to the great cultural expressions that everyone knows; Like the great Colombian festivals, it also includes omens, practices and rituals that have passed from generation to generation without a clear explanation.

Most of them are not so well known and go unnoticed by everyone, regardless of the fact that they are already part of Colombian culture . On this occasion, we want to pay tribute to all those Colombian traditions , which can only be seen where else, but in the land of magical realism.

Join us on this trip and get ready because we are sure that you will be surprised like never before.

These are the least known and most surprising Colombian traditions

Old year

One of the traditions of Colombia that cannot be missed is the burning of the old year on December 31 when the countdown announces that a new year has begun. It consists of making cloth dolls with flammable material inside. The old year are representations of influential personalities such as politicians, actors or world leaders. This tradition dates back to the time of the Spanish colony and is common in the departments of Putumayo, Quindío, Huila, Cauca and on the Caribbean coast.

The yipaos

Yipaos are Willy-type Jeeps that were previously used to transport farmers' crops on the precarious roads that the country had at the time, especially the Coffee Axis . Today they are icons of the coffee culture and in many of these departments the tradition of transport and cargo is still preserved. However, the most common is to admire them in the Yipao Parade in Armenia.

The pot ride

The pot walk is one of the traditions of Colombia that no one knows where or how it began, but that all the families in the country do at least once a year. It consists of going for a walk with the whole family to the river and in an improvised wood stove on the shore of this making a typical Colombian anchovy.

The couplet

The copla is another of the Colombian traditions that the colony left us. It began as an expression of the oral tradition of the Spanish with the humorous verses of the peasant songs. It is a tradition that is kept alive in the interior of the country where, depending on the region, it receives different names. For example, in the Eje Cafetero and Antioquia it is known as trova, in the Llanos it is the counterpoint.

Easter in Popayán

The celebration of Holy Week in Popayán is one of the Colombian traditions that still preserve the splendor and magnificence of the early years. It has been carried out for more than four centuries and has become indispensable in the culture of the country, especially of the Payanese. In fact, it is one of the traditions of Colombia that is part of the representative list of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity for Unesco.