This year’s Flower Festival in Medellín, Colombia, was once again a huge popular success. For almost 10 days, the city was abuzz with passion for its long tradition of « Silleteros » from the village of Santa Elena.
Silleteros are flower growers from a village perched in the countryside above Medellín. Since the mid-19ᵉ century, they have maintained the tradition of bringing their flowers for sale in the city on a large wooden stand called a « Silleta ». This Silleta was also used to carry other objects… Even children….
Of course, today there is a road linking the village of Santa Elena to the city of Medellín. But the tradition lives on, and every year at the beginning of August, the town organizes a huge parade of the most beautiful wreaths. There are several categories, but the most spectacular and eagerly awaited is the Silleta Monumentale, which must use only natural flowers and be as original in design as possible.
In 2017, for the filming of the documentary La Colombie à Travers les couleurs, we followed the creation of a Silleta Monumentale by the oldest of the silleteros taking part in the parade: 74-year-old Jaime Atehortua.
So this year, it was a real pleasure for us to come back and take part in the making of Jaime’s new Silleta Monumentale. We had brought the documentary with us, and it was a truly moving moment for everyone to discover it.
