Rock al Parque
| Rock al Parque | |
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| Genre | Rock music, heavy metal, ska, punk, hardcore punk, etc. |
| Location(s) | Bogotá, Colombia |
| Years active | 1995-present |
| Attendance | 400,000+ (2014) |
| Website | |
| Official Website (Spanish) | |
Rock al Parque is a rock music festival which, since 1995, has taken place in Bogotá, Colombia. Entry to the festival is free of charge. In 2004, 400,000 people took part in the event. It is considered the largest rock festival in Colombia and one of the most important in Latin America, arguably the largest free rock festival in the continent. It has ska, punk, hardcore, metal, and other genres included in its program.
The first edition of this festival happened in 1995. It started as a continuation of the 'Youth Music meetings' held at the city's Planetarium in 1992. The people behind the organization were Mario Duarte and Julio Correal. The initial purpose was to gain the support of Bogota's Institute of Culture and Tourism, to establish it. The first edition of this festival happened during May 26 and 29, 1995, within several venues. To mention them, the most representative one known as 'La Media Torta', The Simón Bolívar Park, the 'Olaya Herrera's Stadium, and 'the Santa María Bullfighting' Ring. This last one was the only venue requesting admission fees for participants. Therefore, after 1996, the festival organisers decided to exclude this last venue, "the Santa María Bullfighting Ring", in order to feature the festival "free of charge for admission" since.
The festival, which originally only included rock music, gradually opened up its doors to promote other genres, such as punk, reggae, ska and blues musicians. Due to the increase in diversity, the festival's organizers started scheduling bands so that different types of musicians could participate alongside one another, as opposed to grouping acts by genre.
Nowadays the festival takes place over three days at Bogotá's Simon Bolivar Park. The festival is broadcast live over Canal Capital, a local public television channel, and Radiónica, a public radio network.
The sale of alcohol at Rock al Parque is prohibited, as is smoking, despite the fact that the event takes place outdoors. Concertgoers are not allowed entry if they are wearing belts with metallic buckles, as these can be used as weapons. Furthermore, all concertgoers have to go through a routine security inspection before entering the concert grounds, and may even be asked to remove their shoes and socks if need be. Concerts are scheduled between 1:00 and 10:00 p.m.
The festival features national and international bands of different genres. After 1997, artists were selected by a jury after an open multi-stage process (pre-selection, presentation and live auditions). As an incentive, the chosen bands win prizes, as well as the opportunity to share the stage with international bands. Sometimes, acts are invited by the organizing committee directly. Up to year 2009 there have been 473 artists and 3,092,000 people. The third edition of the festival in 1997, had the largest number of participants, with 87 bands. On the other hand, the eighth edition, in 2002, had the fewest, with only 25. On average, 51.6 bands have performed annually at 'Rock al Parque'. The 2004 edition, which marked the festival's 10th anniversary, had over 400,000 spectators.
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Wikipedia