The 13th Bogota Iberoamericano Theatre Festival (FITB), fondly known as the Fiesta de las mil caras (Party of a thousand faces) is currently open and is featuring some of the country’s and the world’s most talented performance artists. The festival is undeniably the biggest and most important festival in Colombia, and at the launch a message from Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos was read by actor Diego Leon Hoyos that told citizens that the festival “should go on to become the pride of all Colombians.”

Normally the festival opens with a foreign work, but this year for the first time it was inaugurated with a Colombian play from the Caribbean coast, Maria Barilla which tells the tragic story of Maria Barilla, a dancer who defended the rights of indigenous groups, peasants and women in the early twentieth century.

According to Colombiareports.com an impressive parade of over 2000 artistes are taking part in the festival and 30 indigenous shaman have also been involved. The new image of the festival this year is The Festival of 1000 Faces, designed by Carlos Duque, in celebration of the diverse participation and entertainment the event is expected to draw between March 23 through April 8.

Bogota’s 13th annual theatre festival has been recognised by Unesco as an event of Intangible Cultural Heritage and this year has invited 45 countries to participate in over 800 functions and 70 special events spread across 22 Bogota theaters over 17 days.

“The festival offers the most complete panorama of performing arts. Aside from classical works, it is a showcase of dance, circus, music, puppetry, pantomime, performance art, and even concerts, many of which take place simultaneously in Bogota’s halls and streets,” according to the website of Colombian tourism and investment promoter Proexport.