Alimentarte Food Festival

Established in 2003 and now in its twentieth-plus edition, Alimentarte has grown into one of Bogotá's most anticipated annual food events, bringing together more than 90 restaurants and culinary companies for a weekend of tastings, cooking classes and live music. Held at El Chico Museum Park in the city's north, the festival has earned its billing as 'The Foodies' Heaven' for the sheer range of local and international cuisine on offer.

What distinguishes Alimentarte from many food festivals is its charitable structure: funds raised go directly to non-profit organisations, including the Corazón Verde Foundation, which supports widows and orphans of former National Police officers. Vendors selling organic, natural and high-quality ingredients also take part, including Amazonía Mía, a market of Colombian Amazon products aimed at supporting jungle and forest conservation.

Each edition adopts a regional theme — a recent one celebrated the cuisine of Colombia's Caribbean coast — giving the festival a rotating focus that keeps even long-time attendees discovering something new about the country's remarkably varied regional cooking.