FOLKLORE OF THE ORINOQUÍA REGION OF COLOMBIA - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The folklore of the Orinoquía region is characterized by having a rich tradition of musical rhythms, with a vast variety of hits and dances such as the joropo and the galerón, as well as the contrapunteo and the trova.

The most popular legends and myths of the region are the Silbón and Florentino, and the Devil, which are part of the superstitious culture of the llanero. His typical wardrobe is cheerful and simple.

Its typical meals are dominated by beef, pork and wild animals in different ways of preparation.

The region also has a profuse festive calendar, loaded with important musical, fair and sports events.

Typical dances

Joropo

It is a very lively fast dance that is generally accompanied by corridos and verses. It is the most representative of the folklore of the Colombian plain.

Zapateado is also danced like the galerón, of flamenco and Andalusian tradition. It is accompanied by harp music, cuatro and maracas or capachos.

It is a rhythm that simulates the rider's gallop in the savannah, with some modalities such as the zapatiao, the valsiao, the toriao and the escobillao, among many others. In this form of dance, couples dance loosely and tapped.

The varieties of joropo for their rhythms are: passage (slower dance), galerón, zumba that buzzes, six by right, pajarillo, catira, quirpa, carnival, periquera and other hits.

Trova and counterpunteo, a type of duel or sung challenge, are very frequent in the llaneras festivals.

The term joropo means dance or party and comes from the Arabic word 'xarop', whose meaning is 'syrup', similar to the Mexican syrups from Guadalajara.

Galley

This folk dance is considered one of the oldest in the country. It is a happy dance, which both the man and the woman perform by stomping. It is known by the name of corrido or 'llanero whirlwind'.

While the dance is going on, the man chases the woman with a cattle-binding fence or a handkerchief, while the lady escapes with fine flirtations.

Locker room

The typical wardrobe of the Colombian eastern plain is the liqui liqui, white or black, and the hair and beaver or felt hat, which is usually adorned with heron or duck feathers. The typical shoe is the quotes (espadrilles) woven or made of leather with a rubber sole or support.

While the women wear very colorful and flowered cloth suits with short sleeves and a tray neck, sometimes two-piece or one-piece with a knee-length skirt.

The costume is generally adorned with lace and jewelry. They also wear black thread quotes or low-heeled shoes.

Typical meals

Empantalonaos from Morrocoy or Galápago

Spiced morrocoy meat, wrapped in a thin layer of fried cornmeal.

Cachapas

Grilled soft corn cake with cheese.

Hallacas

Spiced beef and pork stew wrapped in banana leaves.

Torrejas and cassava fritters

Balls of mashed yuca with fried eggs and butter.

Holy catfish

Shredded and seasoned dried fish.

Beef and game meats

Roasted and streaky and in different presentations.

Hash

Soup of various types of meat with vegetables.

Fairs and parties

• The National Song Festival and International Tournament of Joropo (Meta Department)
• Araucanidad Day (Arauca Department)
• International Children's Festival of Llanera Music "La Palometa de Oro" (Puerto Carreño, Meta)
• Indigenous Cultural Festival and El Reinado del Cumaré (Vichada Department).
• Squad Festival (San Martín - Meta)
• The Festival of the Negrera (Arauca)
• National and International Rice Festival, Aguazul (Casanare)
• Tailed bulls. Bullfighting is the most popular sport in this region, because it comes from this part of the country. It consists of knocking down a bull by the tail while riding behind the animal.

Another very frequent practice in the region consists of linking cattle and marking calves with red-hot irons.

Myths and legends

• Legend of the Silbón
• Florentino and the Devil
• Llanero sunrise
• Rompellano
• Juan Machete
• La Sayona or Llorona
• Juan de los Ríos
• Cuía
• La Candileja
• The ball of fire
• The fish prayer

References

1. Martín, Miguel Ángel (1979). Llanero folklore. Villavicencio: Lit. Juan XXIII. Recovered from banrepcultural.org
2. Myths and legends of Casanare. Consulted of sinic.gov.co
3. Myths and legends of the plain. Consulted of unradio.unal.edu.co
4. Meta Legends and Myths. Consulted of sinic.gov.co
5. Orinoquía region. Consulted from saberpartdetupais.blogspot.com
6. Orinoquía region. Consulted from colombia.com