the transformation of the city with the games

Medellin City transformed to improve its sports plaques to host thousands of athletes from all over South America, the Atanasio Girardot stadium is the wider arena, in which the concentration of tourism and cultural exchanges is expected, are a great addition to our community.

ThE NiNtH SoUtH AmErIcAn GaMeS

The Ninth South American Games take place next year, from 19 to 30 March in Medellin and eight other municipalities in the department of Antioquia and Bogota will be presented Sept. 15.

The town of Bello, Copacabana, Envigado, Guarne, Guatape, Itaguí, Riosucio and Sabaneta, as they prepare their sets and advance organizational aspects for the realization of the international sports tournament in the area.

The sporting event of the South American continent, will bring together over three thousand athletes in 31 sports: Athletics, badminton, basketball, handball, baseball, bowling, BOXING, CANOEING, CYCLING, HORSE, ESRIMA, water ski, football, gymnastics, judo, karate, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, skating, Rowing, Softball, Squash, Taekwondo, tennis , TABLE TENNIS, ARCHERY, shooting, triathlon, sailing, volleyball.

It is the first time Colombia made the tournament. The eight were in previous versions: 1978: La Paz, 1982, Rosario, 1986, Santiago de Chile, 1990, Lima, 1994, Valencia Venezuela, 1998 Cuenca, Ecuador; 2002, Brazil 2006, Buenos Aires. The best figuration of Colombia was in 1994 and 1998 when it occupied the second position, and in 2006 in Buenos Aires captured third place tie with Brazil in Medell gold (97).

Other actions in Colombia are: Rosario Eighth, tenth in Santiago deChile. He did not participate in the Games of La Paz, Lima and Brazil.

Invitación

MuSeUmS

The Museum of Antioquia

There are more than a dozen fine museums in Medellin. The Museo de Antioquia, located in the heart of Centro, is one of the most popular!

A few of the many permanent galleries include: Pre Hispanic, Colonial and Republican, Murals, Photographs, National Artists, International Artists, Sculptures, Contemporary, etc., and the most visited gallery: Botero.





The Medellin Museum of Modern Art

Located just five minutes from the center of the city, and a few blocks from the METRO Station-SURAMERICANA, the Museo de Arte Moderno was founded in 1980.
Pictures, sculptures, photographs plus other forms and works of modern art created by Colombian and international artists of acclaim, are on display in expansive salons featuring both artificial and natural light.

The Museum provides a permanent collection from world-famous artists such as: Debora Arango, Enrique Grau, Leonel Gongora, Manuel Hernandez, Olga Almaral, Beatriz Gonzalez, and Hugo Zapate.

The Medellin Interactive Museum

The Museum seeks to create a better understanding of the discovery, evolution, advancement and utilization of the sciences toward improvement in the lives of humankind. In teaching the sciences, interactive education is the second leg of effective communications: Tell about it. Do it. Review it.

The Museum staff incorporated 3-D digital animations, state of the art audio systems, interactive games, and a hi-tech A-V Hall (audio-visual),for movie projection. The overriding theme, which is repeated throughout the Museum, is Science, Nature and Conservation. The investment in The Future Pavilion, by EPM, was 2,630 million Pesos, or about $1,127.100. U.S.

FeStIvAlS

January / February
Bullfights in Medellin

Where: La Macarena Stadium
Saturday for six weeks with two special evening events.
Overview: Every year at the end of January and the beginning of February, Spain comes to Medellin, and the very best Matadors in the world come to show off their skills in the beautifully restored Macarana stadium.
Every afternoon for six Saturdays the party revolves around the Macarana stadium and spills over into the streets, bars and restaurants of the Zona Rosa. The city is filled with spectators from all over the world and many places put on special events during the festival.


March / April
Easter /Holy Week

Where: La Macarena Stadium
Saturday for six weeks with two special evening events.
Overview: The Holy Week of Easter is the most important Catholic religious festival in South America. Semana Santa, Holy Week, celebrates the last days of Christ's life, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, as well as the end of Lent. Semana Santa is observed with a range of celebrations, from the most solemnly religious, to a mix of pagan/Catholic, to commercial. There is a four day long weekend in Medellin so it's party time!!


July
ColombiaMODA

Where: Centro Internacional de Convenciones Plaza Mayor
Overview: Colombiamoda is the most important annual fashion event in South America, presenting around 450 Colombian and international exhibitors in the Centro Internacional de Convenciones Plaza Mayor in Medellín. Visitors are expected from all over Latin America, Europe, the United States and the Far East.
Colombiamoda, organised by fashion promoter Inexmoda, has taken place every year since 1990. This year there are products shown for men, women, teens and children in formal, casual, underwear, sportswear and swimwear, as well as supplies for fashion dealers, machinery and all the other services related to the sector. A host of related events take place alongside the fair, including daily catwalk shows.

July
The International Poetry Festival in Medellin

Where: The Universtiy of Antioquia - Along with many smaller open street venues
The rapid progression of the Festival's growth (which is directly related with the number and quality of the more than 747 participant poets representing 131 countries of the five continents, added to the great public attendance to all the Festival's acts) and by other side the consolidation of publications, poet's organizations and international poetry festivals in the world, can anticipate a bigger influence of poetry in human society.

August
The Flower Festival


Where: Throughout all of Medellín
Overview: The centre of Medellin bursts into flames of colour and a delicious bouquet of sweet smells during the Flower Fair, the city's most important cultural event.
Colombia is famous for its flowers and exports them all over the world. This annual celebration has been going strong since 1957 and is always held during the first two weeks in August






December / January
The Festival of Christmas Lights

Where: Throughout all of Medellín
Overview: The Christmas lights decorating Medellin, make it the most beautiful Latin American city in South America over the Christmas holidays. The lights are illuminated from mid December to mid January. The most impressive parts are centered around the Rio Medellin at the 'puente de Guayaquil'. Large statues made of lights can be found throughout the city.



December
Santa Fe de Antioquia, Colombia Festival the Cinema

Where: Carrera 51 No. 52-03 Palacio de la Cultura, Of. 313
Tel: (57-4) 251 6888 Telefax: 513 3653 Medellín, Colombia
Telefax: (57-4) 853 3988 Santa Fe de Antioquia
Overview: For all you lovers of cinema there are two annual film festivals in the town of Santa Fe de Antioquia. Take a tour of this incredible town with its Colonial style architecture which has been preserved in time with its vertiable maze of cobbled stone streets. It features one of the world's first suspension bridges in all of Colombia.

EnJoY tHe TrAnSfOrMaTiOn Of MeDeLlíN

Enjoy the transformation of Medellin

Medellín has changed. Those who visited it in the past will surely be surprised when seeing it again. Its transformation is due to a work plan and to social programs that make our city an example in the continent. Through big projects that turn the eyes of tourists and visitors, the Metrocable, the four Library Parks with all their technology, the Explora Science Park, the Orchid Showroom, and the pedestrian walkways for enjoyment and shopping, like the ones in Carabobo and El Poblado, open new spaces to understand how this city is transforming itself. Medellín continues to be a pioneer in Colombia as a city of big events and, plaza Mayor becomes the ideal space for large conventions, forums and fairs that choose it for their meeting. Likewise, Medellín is the city of fashion and medicine, but also, of entrepreneurship and culture; with important events like the Poetry festival, the International Tango Festival, the Christmas Lights, best in the country, and the Flower Fest. But what really attracts visitors, is the peace and reconciliation felt in every street of our city. Walking through Medellin is safe and its warm and friendly people will guide you thru this route of education and culture. The city has a wide offer of museums, new parks and streets, shopping centers, theaters, places of tourist interest like Cerro Nutibara (Nutibara Hill), old churches and convention centers ready for you to enjoy them with optimism and to meet friendly people willing to welcome you and have an unforgettable experience.

LoDgInG - HoTeLs

Medellín is a contrast metropolis - nature, it is vibrant, vital, and in full development, with an intense interaction among commercial, industrial, cultural, religious, social and sports activities.

It has an ample and varied offer of large, medium and small hotels for all budgets. Its position as an industrial and business city has converted Medellin into a much visited metropolis.

The hotel industry in Medellín reported an occupation of 56.1% in 2007 in average, for the period January – December, according to data supplied by COTELCO- Chapter Antioquia-Chocó.

Between 2005 and beginning of 2008 10 new hotel projects were developed in the city; 18 more projects are expected between 2008 and 2009.

The new hotels

have added 876 rooms and 1.059 beds to the city.

Three areas of the city offer hotel services, their fees for meetings and conventions oscillate in the following range:

* DOWNT OWN AREA: between USD 34 and USD 90.
* LAUREL ES AREA: between USD 69 and USD 153.
* POBLADO AREA: between USD 113 and USD 215.