“Francachela” is a very unfamiliar word in English which means a colloquial feast where people get together to enjoy food, music and drinking. This is exactly what Alejandro Sanín, organiser of La Francachela Gastronomy Festival in Bogota wants to create September 19-20 and 26-27 at the Seminario Valmaria (Carrera 4 with 19) in Usaquen.
The food festival has been running for five years in Bogota, and started in Medellin two years ago. “The idea is to promote a family environment, including pets, to enjoy excellent food and music”, explains Sanín. Francachela will bring restaurants together as special guests, including the Rausch brothers, Paulo Jo Chung, Evelyn Posada and Esteban Cardozo contestants in Masterchef Colombia 2015.
The international guest of this year is Donde Augusto from the Central Chilean market. With this, Sanin aims to show bogotanos that eating good food doesn’t mean expensive restaurants; instead, markets are often the best place to get a taste of the culture of a country.
For an entrance fee of just $12,000 COP, the citadinos can enjoy a day filled with a plethora of dishes, many of them modern presentations of traditional Colombian food, as restaurant La Herencia does pretty well. However, you may also learn about matching wine and food, have chats with well-known chefs and take part in some exquisite wine tasting.
Additionally, the food festival will include fresh new chefs and food trucks as an initiative to promote new experiences when going out to eat. La Francachela joined forces with Tigre Haller and Toby de Lys, who wrote the Bogotá! A Bilingual Guide to the Enchanted City. The two are a big participants in the cultural and artistic scenery of the city and will be in charge of the music at the festival with live jazz and blues.
Related: Eating out in Bogotá, our reader’s favourite restaurants
The theme of the event comes from Rafael Pombo children’s poem, RinRin Renacuajo, a classic tale of a mischievous frog who goes to “Miss Mouse’s where there’s always plenty of booze and grub”.
Save the date and save space so you can enjoy the booze, grub and everything else on offer at La Francachela Festival.
María Alejandra Jaramillo
