The Cumbia Route celebrates the rhythms of the Colombian Caribbean

San Jacinto (Colombia), 18 Mar Colombia inaugurated this Friday the Cumbia and Caribbean Music Route, an initiative of the Ministry of Culture that highlights the rhythms of the Colombian Caribbean with the drums and bagpipes that characterize these territories. In collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MinCIT), this project invites you to travel 1,300 kilometers of the Caribbean highlighting the artistic and cultural activity of the region. The initiative also thinks about economic reactivation, employment generation and the increase in visitors. The Minister of Culture, Angelica Mayolo, said in the presentation of the initiative, at an event in the municipality of San Jacinto, in the department of Bolívar, that this will be “a great tool for promoting cultural tourism that will allow attracting national and foreign tourists to the municipalities of the Colombian Caribbean.” The idea is that visitors can “enjoy this beautiful musical genre, festivals and festivities, gastronomy and cultural diversity,” the minister added. The route includes 23 municipalities in seven Colombian departments in the Caribbean region that share a common sound tradition, which “will allow national artists to be known abroad.” Likewise, Mayolo told Efe, the idea is to “strengthen the capacities of tourist services to serve all tourists who visit us with quality.” The launch event was attended by the San Jacinto Bagpipers, and other exponents and masters of this genre, such as Adolfo Pacheco or Pedro Ramayá. Cumbia is “a cultural heritage that lives on” and of which “Colombians should be very proud, to carry it in their blood”, celebrated the Minister of Culture. REACTIVATION For her part, the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María Ximena Lombana, pointed out that “projects such as the Cumbia Route are an opportunity to specialize the offer and promote other destinations in the country.” They also serve to “make the identity of the regions visible, promote the richness of our cultural heritage, encourage cultural and creative industries, and generate new opportunities for host communities through sustainable tourism”. Lombana praised this tour of the territories of the Colombian Caribbean to “promote cultural tourism”, because “cumbia is a legacy, a living heritage and it is necessary to keep its flame alive.” CHIEF lmg/mg/CFA (photo) (video)