Yipao Jeep Parade

American Willys jeeps arrived in Colombia as postwar surplus and were adopted across the coffee region because they could work the mountain tracks; they have been kept running for seventy years, and a yipao is a jeep loaded with as much as it can carry, which in practice is far more than it should. The parade at Calarca judges them in categories: productos agricolas, stacked with coffee sacks, plantains and produce; trasteo, a complete household including furniture and animals; and the one people come for, pique or acrobacia, in which the load is placed so far back that the jeep drives with its front wheels off the ground, balanced on the rear axle for the length of the street. It runs during the Calarca festival in June.

Highlights

• Jeeps loaded far past sense - coffee, produce, whole households.
• A category for driving on two wheels - front lifted by the load's placement.
• Postwar Willys still working - seventy years on the mountain tracks.
• A June parade at Calarca - part of the town's festival.

When to go

June, during the Calarca festival. Half a day.

Practical notes

It happens once a year - dates should be confirmed. Crowds line the route and viewing spots go early. It is a parade of a few hours, not a day-long event. Smaller yipao displays happen at other regional festivals.

Nearby

Armenia is west; the Quindio botanical garden is at Calarca.