The Vallenato Festival has its best preamble in the Pedazo de Acordeón Festival that is celebrated every year at this time in El Paso, Cesar. This contest should not go unnoticed. That event is to the Vallenato Festival, as Holy Week in Valledupar is to Holy Week in Valencia: the reunion with the deepest history. In this case of vallenato that Consuelo Araújo called in ‘Vallenatología’ the ‘Vallenato Bajero’ and that Ciro Quiroz Otero in his book ‘Vallenato, hombre y canto’ called the cradle of ‘the cowboy songs’.
We transcribe the recent column of our collaborator Jorge Naín, preacher of this important event, who clarifies that “whoever plays the accordion is also obliged to sing songs of his own, as in those times when complete musicians prevailed, that is, the one who “He plays, sings and composes.”
Nain says that: “Consuelo Araújo thought that a way to give the Vallenata Legend Festival a little more dynamism and novelty could be with the creation of the King of Kings contest every ten years, and in 1987 this modality began. The image of the most charismatic accordion player in the history of vallenato Gilberto Alejandro Durán Díaz was felt in the Plaza Alfonso López de Valledupar and of course, he once again stole the applause and hearts of the vallenatos, becoming the public’s favorite.
“What we all already know happened and the first King of kings was Nicolas Elías “Colacho” Mendoza, which left the inhabitants of the municipality of El Paso very dissatisfied and a protest movement arose there in the streets of the municipal seat, which ended with a demonstration in which the main speaker announced that the following year a vallenato festival would be held as a kind of reparation to Alejo that would be called Pedazo de Acordeón.
“Three characters headed that team that would later become a Foundation: César Serna Mieles, Eustorgio Flórez Mojica and Miguel Antonio Villazón Mizat, who gave life to the First Piece of Acordeón Festival in El Paso, Cesar, in April 1988.
“This 35th version of the Pedazo de Acordeón Festival will be in tribute to Andrés Beleño and Néstor Martínez, minstrels of the piqueria and singing of our region, and we will have the complete accordion competitions, amateurs, youth, children, piquería, unpublished songs, the millionaire prize is guaranteed. The municipal mayor Jesús Ortiz Cervantes and the board of directors of the Pedazo de Acordeón Foundation headed by its president Wilfran Villegas have everything ready for the festival to achieve another success this year.
«The list of artists invited to the Pedazo de Acordeón Festival is of the highest level: on the 25th, Beto Zabaleta and Grupo Bananas, Mando Ruiz and Camilo Arévalo; on the 26th, Mono Zabaleta and Daniel Maestre, Rafa Roncallo, Checha Banco, Álvaro Robles and Laura Zuleta; on the 27th, Oscar Gamarra, Los Mellos Gnecco, Chemo Ruiz and Farid Leonardo; On the 28th, Elder Dayan, Zona 8, Tomas Elías and Álvaro de la Cruz, Erik Escobar and Neno Beleño close with a flourish.”
Being in that region with just one step we will be in the heart of a region of singers, dances and drummers of our river coast, of valuable Afro-descendant culture. Visiting El Paso is an excellent plan this weekend to get to know the best and most ancient vibe of vallenato.