Wednesday 11 November 2009.
The festival was launched on 16 October on the premises of the Jardín Botanico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis, where more than 200 people participated in the national opening of the Festival. The launch was attended by students from the Instituto Técnico Industrial Francisco José de Caldas and Distrital Eduardo Umana Mendoza Schools, as well as employees of the Jardín Botanico and other guests.
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A play performed by the students of Colegio Distrital Eduardo Umaña Mendoza.
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Students of the Instituto Técnico Industrial Francisco José de Caldas. |
The Festival is a national event, including the participation of municipalities and cities from all over the country. San Vicente de Chucuri, Santander is one such city; here the Festival was held from the 1st to the 23rd of October, and included radio programs, ecological walks, talks, workshops, and a parade through the main streets of the city, culminating in a ceremonial performance at the municipal theater.
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Parade in San Vicente de Chucuri, Santander. |
Another city that celebrated the Festival was the Córdobas in the department of Córdoba. The city developed workshops and observational outings directed at students. There were also talks and dynamic events and teachings in Jardín and Urrao, Antioquia which culminated in a parade that included the participation of more than 400 children of the town of Jardín.
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Outings for bird watching in los Córdobas and Canalete. |
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Parade of Migratory Birds Jardín, Antioquia. |
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Observation route Jardín, Antioquia. |
In Génova, Quindío department, the festival closed with a parade accompanied by the city marching band, included the participation of local schools, and ended with an award for the migratory bird drawing contest. In Roncesvalles, Tolima, the Festival was celebrated with workshops in rural and urban schools of the town, rural outings to view birds, and parades with more than 200 people from the town participating.
It was similar in the village of Puerto Pinzón in the municipality of Puerto Boyacá, and in Bogotá also migratory bird workshops were held, directed at students from different schools.
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| Parade in Roncesvalles, Tolima. |
In this way, Colombia celebrated and recognized the arrival of these extreme travellers, achieving the engagement of children, adults, educational and government institutions and communities in order to preserve and secure these birds’ return in each migratory journey.
Nationwide media coverage
During the days of the Festivals, there was wide coverage by national and international communications media who received and widely disseminated the importance of the Festival. More than 30 notices and interviews were published in some of the most important news sources of the country, such as El Tiempo, Revista Semana, Canal RCN, Canal CityTv, Canal Capital and Agencia EFE; similarly information was published in the web pages of Mexico, Spain, and Panama.
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| Newspaper El Tiempo and Magazine Semana. |
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