Bogota is a creative city renowned for its rich music scene. In recent decades, the city has undergone several urban, economic, social and cultural transformations that have been supported by public policies including culture as a main pillar. Music has been a notable part of this process, as illustrated by the “Festivales Al Parque” program launched in 1995, which offers free, open-air concerts by local rock, jazz, salsa, hip hop, and opera artists. Welcoming more than 600,000 participants every year, these festivals contribute to the appropriation of public spaces by citizens and reinforce Bogota’s identity and cultural diversity. 

 

In addition to hosting the “Festivales Al Parque”, Bogota is also home to 60 other annual music festivals as well as 500 live music venues. Thanks to this vibrant music scene, Bogota has become an important regional musical center where the sounds of salsa, fusion, rock, opera, classic, chamber, electronic, pop, tropical, ranchera, hip hop, experimental, bolero, gospel and Colombia’s own rich musical traditions can be heard. 

 

Bogota’s cultural industries as a whole have improved with the participation of the private sector and the city’s Chamber of Commerce. Other creative fields such as books, the arts, the performing arts and the audiovisual arts have become more developed. The Bogota Music Market, created in 2012, has also become a notable platform for local and regional music agents. Additionally, the Chamber of Commerce is developing a Music Cluster in order to strengthen the city’s dynamic music sector. 

 

Bogota’s local government has a clear social focus and strives to ensure citizen’s rights and wellbeing. Notably, over the past two years the municipality has developed a project to include music and the arts as part of the basic public education programs, providing music education to 23,000 children and young people in the city’s public schools.