Colombian artisans prepare for flower festival
STORY: The town of Santa Elena is known as the cradle of 'silleteros', the flower aficionados who create the silletas. Throughout the year, families grow the flowers they will later use on their silletas.
For last year’s Silletero parade winner Luis Felipe Londono, this art form is a tradition that has been in his family for over three generations. On Monday (August 15) he will participate in the parade alongside 11 of his relatives.
The annual flower parade reportedly harks back to 1957 when a Medellin local invited florists from nearby villages to march in the city to display their colorful arrangements.
More than 60 years on, the humble parade has evolved to become a prized event on Colombia's cultural calendar with florists going all out on their silletas.
