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La Parranda Veleña [Veleña Party] is a parade around Vélez’s streets in which the participants wear the traditional clothing (called traje típico; see separate section on clothing), play the music of Vélez including Torbellino and Guabinas and dance on the streets. This event has a participatory character in that it features the music ensembles, but friends and spectators are welcome to participate. All the musicians and participants meet at the Monumento del Artista [Artist’s Monument], a statue placed at the entrance of the town. In the festival’s programs, the Parranda starts at 2:00 p.m., however people start to gather approximately two hours earlier to wait for the members of their ensemble and for friends who want to join.
During this parade, local people can observe the event from the sidewalk or the balconies or they can join the parade at any point. In comparison with the Desfile de las flores [the flowers parade] (which will be discussed below), this event has more participation, and more people are on the streets performing. One relevant element of the Parranda is the sharing of food and drinks between the groups; spectators might also offer drinks to the participants. The character of the Parranda Vélez can be seen in the video Parranda veleña 2016 ferias de Vélez (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HghTPQ-41Mo&t=26s). The Parranda Veleña concludes in the central park of the village with a feast of Piquete Veleño.
From its debut, the Parranda Veleña was popular and successful. According to the newspaper Vanguardia Liberal, “la primera Parranda Veleña que se organizó participaron cerca de 200 grupos musicales” y que esta, la Parranda, “creció tanto que en el mandato del alcalde Hernando Rueda se pasó la celebración a los viernes y se autorizó que participaran colegios, familias y veredas enteras”. [“in the first Veleña party that was organized, nearly 200 musical groups participated” and that this, the party, “grew so much that during the mandate of Mayor Hernando Rueda the celebration was moved to Fridays, and schools, families and entire villages were authorized to participate”](Silva, 2015). Through the Parranda Veleña, the participants remember the religious pilgrimages of the peasant families from Vélez to the neighbouring community of Chiquinquirá (in the municipality of Colombia). These pilgrimages honour la virgen de las nives (the Virgin of the Snows), patron saint of Vélez, and the Virgin of Chiquinquirá, patron of the municipality (Chiquinquirá, Boyaca). This historic pilgrimage would take up to three days (depending on the roads and paths) with peasants walking with food, animals, instruments, and other elements on the trip. It is important to highlight that historically these two municipalities were strategic trading locations. Blanca Rivera remembers the words of her mother Mercedes Hernandez saying that at the end of each day, the people would stop to rest and before going to bed they would play their instruments to relax after an entire day of walking. Each day, the groups would continue walking until they reached their destination, usually after three days. The family would stay approximately one month in Chiquinquirá, also serving a commercial purpose as they could trade or buy animals or food. In referring to the Parranda Veleña, Vanguardia liberal (2018) states that: “La Parranda Veleña nace cuando las familias se reunían para trasladar desde Vélez los caballos y las mulas hacia Chiquinquirá a pie. Se acordaba hacer este recorrido durante una fecha específica y el trayecto se realizaba bailando y comiendo. Para las festividades de agosto se retomó esta tradición y se le hace un homenaje a la virgen de Las Nieves”. [the Parranda Veleña was born when families gathered to move horses and mules from Vélez to Chiquinquirá on foot. It was agreed to do this tour during a specific date and the journey was done with dancing and eating. For the August festivities, this tradition was resumed, and a tribute was made to the Virgin of the Nieves].
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