Long before the Festival, there were already silletero
Before it was a parade, the silleta was simply a way of walking the mountain. Think of the Feria de las Flores and it’s hard not to picture the color of the silletas, the streets full of visitors, the pride of hundreds of silleteros parading through Medellín every August. But this story started long before the festival ever existed.
For centuries, the people of Santa Elena used silletas to carry flowers, food and other goods along the paths connecting the village to Medellín. In a time with no roads or vehicles, carrying a silleta on your back was simply part of daily life for many farming families. There was no applause waiting at the end — it was just how you worked the land and made it into the city.
Over time, that trade stopped being only a way to make a living and became a legacy that now defines Medellín and the wider Antioquia region.
In Santa Elena, the tradition still blooms
Just minutes from downtown Medellín, Santa Elena still holds the ground where this story began.
Here, many families keep growing flowers and building silletas by hand, passing the knowledge down through generations. Each design takes weeks of work and a careful eye for flowers, colors and shapes, coming together into compositions that speak of creativity, identity and memory.
Visitors to Santa Elena can walk through silletero farms, see the growing process up close, talk with the silleteros themselves, and see how a farming tradition stays alive through the people who inherited it. That’s when it clicks: behind every silleta is a family, a mountain, and a story no one can tell better than they can.
It’s an experience that shows silletero culture isn’t just a parade. It’s the everyday life of a whole community that turned farm work into one of the country’s most beloved art forms.
The Flower Festival: honoring those who made the city bloom
In 1957, Medellín set out to honor that tradition by creating the Feria de las Flores. That very first parade brought together just 40 farmers who walked down from the mountains of Santa Elena to Parque Bolívar, carrying on their backs the same silletas that had once been strictly for work.
From then on, the Silleteros’ Parade became the heart of the celebration and the moment locals and the thousands of visitors who arrive every year wait for most.
The parade is a full display of color and floral craftsmanship lighting up the city’s streets. But more than that, it honors the work, creativity and dedication of silletero families, who still build every silleta by hand, keeping alive a trade that’s part of the region’s identity.
Today, the Feria de las Flores stands as one of Colombia’s most iconic cultural events — a window for the world into a tradition that keeps blooming, generation after generation.
Medellín's flowers, a living heritage
Every silleta, built by hand by silletero farmers, tells a story. Some depict landscapes, others recreate everyday scenes, carry a message, or pay tribute to people and moments in history. What they all share is what’s behind them: hours of work, generations of knowledge, and a deep connection to the land.
Silletero culture has managed to hold onto its essence while still moving with the times. That balance — evolving without losing its roots — is exactly why it remains a source of pride for Medellín and a cultural reference point for Colombia.
A tradition worth visiting all year round
While the Feria de las Flores is when silletero tradition gets its biggest stage, Santa Elena keeps its doors open all year for anyone who wants to know this legacy at its source.
Visiting a silletero farm means walking through flower fields, hearing the stories of people who’ve given their lives to this craft, and understanding why silletas stopped being just a work tool and became one of Medellín’s most important symbols. And unlike the August parade, here there’s no crowd — just you, the silletero, and the garden.
Because understanding silletero culture means uncovering an essential part of the city’s own story.
📍Discover the official Silletero Farms guide and find the places where one of the city’s most important traditions comes to life.
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