Bringing Colombia’s floral heritage to life at Medellín’s 2026 Flower Festival

Flowers of Colombia are known around the world for their quality, diversity and reach across international markets. But behind this global sector is also a strong connection with the territories and communities where flowers are grown. This connection came to life during the 2026 Flower Festival in Medellín, where Flowers of Colombia became part of one of the country’s most emblematic cultural celebrations.

Antioquia, where Medellín is located, is Colombia’s second-largest flower-producing region, accounting for 27% of the country’s national flower production. The region is therefore not only an important production hub for Colombian floriculture, but also a territory where flower growing is closely connected to local communities, traditions and cultural identity.

© Asocolflores

The Flower Festival, held annually in Medellín, celebrates this relationship through a series of cultural events centered around flowers and one of Antioquia’s most distinctive traditions: the silleteros. These flower growers and artisans create and carry large structures covered with flowers, known as silletas, which are displayed during the traditional Silletero Parade and have become one of the most recognizable cultural expressions of the region.

During this year’s festival, the efforts of Asocolflores, together with its affiliated companies,© Asocolflores made possible the donation of more than 300,000 flower stems that were used to bring the Flowers of Colombia to several of the festival’s main venues. Through these flowers, citizens and visitors from Colombia and abroad were able to experience the diversity of Colombian floriculture while learning more about the people who cultivate them.

The Flowers of Colombia were present across different moments and places of the festival, including the Silleteritos Parade, Medellín’s Botanical Garden, as well as the Plaza de Flores at Parques del Río, Parque de los Deseos and the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín. The initiative also extended to Eastern Antioquia through Asocolflores’ participation in the Fiestas de la Tradición Antioqueña at Comfama Park in Rionegro.

One of the clearest examples of the connection between flower production and local culture was the Trueque de Flores, or Flower Exchange, held on August 5 at Parque Arví Comfama. Asocolflores, and the Corporación de Silleteros facilitated an exchange through which chrysanthemums, roses, hydrangeas, foliage and sunflowers, many of them grown in Eastern Antioquia, were delivered to silleteros from Santa Elena. The flowers were then incorporated into the silletas displayed throughout Medellín during the festival.

© Asocolflores

This connection was also visible during the Silletero Parade on August 9, when an Asocolflores–Flowers of Colombia silleta traveled along the traditional route before thousands of spectators, showcasing the diversity and work behind Colombian floriculture. Five Asocolflores representatives also participated as judges of the parade, contributing their expertise to recognize the creativity, dedication and craftsmanship behind the silletas.

For Colombia’s flower sector, participating in the Flower Festival represents an opportunity to highlight a dimension of floriculture that international consumers do not always see: the connection between the flowers exported around the world and the communities and traditions of the territories where they are cultivated.

© Asocolflores

Each stem that reached the hands of a silletero became part of a story that began on a Colombian flower farm and ended as an expression of cultural identity. In this way, the festival created a bridge between rural and urban Colombia, showing how an export-oriented agricultural industry can also contribute to the preservation of traditions, community development and the cultural identity of its regions.

Through its participation in Medellín’s 2026 Flower Festival, Flowers of Colombia once again demonstrated that Colombian flowers travel far beyond international markets. They also remain deeply rooted in the communities where they are grown, connecting Colombia’s countryside with its cities and its cultural heritage with audiences around the world.