Ibague

Ibague's claim rests on institutions rather than a single festival: the Conservatorio del Tolima was founded in 1906 and has trained musicians ever since, the city holds the Festival Folclorico Colombiano each June and a national music competition, and there is a long tradition of choral and band music through the schools. The bambuco and other Andean forms are the repertoire most associated with it. The Jardin Botanico San Jorge covers a large area of dry tropical forest on a hill in the city with trails. Ibague sits at the foot of the climb to La Linea, the pass over the Central Cordillera, where a long road tunnel has replaced the worst of the old route. The Nevado del Tolima is visible on clear days.

History

Andrés López de Galarza founded the town on 14 October 1550 as Villa de San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas, at a site in today's municipality of Cajamarca some 42 kilometres to the west; the Pijao under their chief Ibagué resisted the settlers, and the town was refounded on its present site on 7 February 1551. From April to December 1854 Ibagué was briefly the capital of New Granada, in 1908 it became the capital of the new department of Tolima, and the University of Tolima was founded here in 1945 and made a state university in 1954 (Wikipedia, Ibagué).

Highlights

• A conservatory founded in 1906 - the basis of the musical claim.
• A June folkloric festival - and a national music competition.
• The San Jorge botanical garden - dry tropical forest on a hill.
• The foot of La Linea - the pass over the cordillera.

When to go

Year round; June for the festival. A full day.

Practical notes

It is a working city and the music is in institutions and events rather than on the streets. Heat is heavy. Traffic through the city on the Bogota-Cali route is constant. The Nevado is often hidden by cloud.

Nearby

La Linea pass is west; Honda and the Magdalena are north.

Key facts