Hundreds of Colombians gathered in Miami this weekend to celebrate the 2024 Barranquilla Carnival in Miami. Since 2006, the Colombian diaspora in the US has organized a Miami version of the world-renowned Barranquilla Carnival. This year, the festivities took place on the streets of Coral Gables, featuring Melissa Cure Villa and Juventino Ojito Palma as the queen and king of the 2024 Barranquilla Carnival. The event brought together various Colombian and Hispanic community organizations from across the US to celebrate Colombian and Caribbean cultural heritage.
Barranquilla Carnival, from Colombia to Miami
The Barranquilla Carnival, declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, is one of the world’s major events of its kind. Held annually, the carnival is a four-day event that concludes on the eve of Ash Wednesday. The 2024 edition attracted 3.38 million attendees from around the world to the Caribbean city. The popularity and cultural richness of the Barranquilla Carnival have led it to expand internationally and partner with other major festivals worldwide, including Spain’s Las Palmas Carnival.
The scheduling of a Miami version of the famous carnival is an initiative from the Coral Gables municipality, the General Consulate of Colombia in Miami, and the Barranquilla Carnival Foundation in Miami. Mirroring its original counterpart, the Miami version of the Barranquilla Carnival includes a parade and a ceremony to elect the carnival queen and King Momo, a satirical figure derived from Greek mythology.
This year, various guests from Colombia enlivened the event including the following: carnival queens Natalya Ruiz Blel and Maria Victoria Vargas from Barranquilla and Soledad; vallenato singer Edwin Ballestas; champeta singers Rey Three Latino and Kevin Florez; as well as representatives from the Colombian departments of Sucre and Quindio.
More than 400,000 Colombian Americans reside in Greater Miami, making it the second-largest home for the Colombian diaspora in the US, after the New York City metropolitan area.
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