So, who or what can we thank for turning this ancient custom into a yearly festival?
We can thank a certain individual, Mr. Arturo Uribe Arango, who was in 1957 a member of the board of the City’s Office of Promotion & Tourism.
Under his initiave, the first ever Feria de las Flores was held on May 1, 1957. The event was modest, with only 40 peasants descending from Santa Elena to partake. The exhibition was held in the atrium of the Metroplitan Cathedral and organized by the Club de Jardinería de Medellín.
The descent of the Silleteros to the city was celebrated as a festival, becoming a celebration that unites all sectors of the paisa society and that is held regularly in the month of August every year. The date is chosen to coincide with the celebration of the independence of Santa Fe de Antioquia from Spain on August 11, 1813.
This celebration, although modest, lasted 5 days. Compare that to today where the duration has doubled to 10 days. In 2022, the Flower Festivalgenerated $30 million USD.
Safe to say that today, this event is the biggest and most colourful in the city. People even travel up the valley to the town of Santa Elena to observe the preparation of the “silletas”.
Did you know? Medellin is known as the “City of Eternal Spring” – but this wasn’t chiefly because of the climate but rather due to the year-long cultivation of flowers and the Feria de las Flores!