Colombia celebrated the 200th anniversary of the start of the movement to win independence from Spain yesterday.
Concerts took place simultaneously in 1,102 communities, with about 200,000 musicians participating. In the capital Bogota as well as other parts of the country, anniversary celebrations and military parades were held.
Thousands of concerts and parties will continue for days as the Colombian people celebrate the birth of a nation.
A chest, sealed 100 years ago, was opened in Bogota which contained an album with drawings and photographs of Colombia’s presidents until 1910, and the Bogota city scape, a book about customs, a 1910 city map, text and score of the national anthem and a copy of the 1810 declaration of independence.
Colombia achieved its independence from Spain in 1819.