Hay Festival Colombia took place from 21 to 30 of January 2022, with events in the cities of Cartagena de Indias, Medellín and Jericó. You are currently browsing the digital programme of the festival.
If you want to browse the in-person events of Hay Festival Cartagena de Indias, click here.
If you want to browse the in-person events of Hay Festival Medellín, click here.
If you want to browse the in-person events of Hay Festival Jericó, click here.
The links between two of the most terrible dictatorships of the 20th century are to be found in 38 Londres Street, by Philippe Sands (UK). The Nazi criminal Walter Rauff ended up in Punta Arenas, in Chilean Patagonia, collaborating with the Pinochet regime. Sands, who worked as a lawyer in the former dictator’s trial, reconstructs the relationship between Rauff and Pinochet, a story of justice and impunity told using documents, archives and testimonies.
Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available
All events on Sunday, February 1st will be free for people with ID from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested —up to capacity— at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your identification on the same day the event is taking place.

An exceptional event brings together Jorge Perugorría and Leonardo Padura, who will discuss their shared love of cinema, followed by a screening of Neurótica anónima, directed by Perugorría. The film tells the story of Iluminada, an older woman who works as an usher in an old movie theater that has become her emotional refuge and strongest connection to life. When the cinema is threatened with closure, she faces the loss of her only symbolic home, as the film reflects on memory, unfulfilled dreams, and a deep love for cinema.

Héctor Abad Faciolince and Catalina Gómez Ángel were together in a pizzeria in Kramatorsk —in the disputed region of Donetsk— when the building was hit by a Russian air attack. Both survived unhurt, but the journalist and writer Victoria Amelina, their guide and travel companion, died a victim of the Russian missiles. Ahora y en la hora is the story by Abad Faciolince of these events, his testimony to tragedy; a narrative about life, aging, death, war, violence and guilt.
Colombian Sign Language interpretation available
All events on Sunday, February 1st will be free for people with ID from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested —up to capacity— at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your identification on the same day the event is taking place.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez, one of the most celebrated writers of his generation, has been writing opinion articles for different outlets for almost 20 years and for five of those he has been a regular contributor to Spain’s El País. He now presents a selection of the best articles he has published there. Esto ha sucedido is the work of an intellectual committed to the political reality around us, but also of an observer concerned about the transformation of the world after the pandemic. A manual to guide us through the complexities of our times. In conversation with Javier Moreno.
All events on Sunday, February 1st will be free for people with ID from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested —up to capacity— at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your identification on the same day the event is taking place.
Coorganised with EP América

Carry Somers (UK) has been one of the standard-bearers of ethical fashion since she co-founded Fashion Revolution, and asked a question that changed the industry and raised awareness among thousands of people: “Who made your clothes?”. She has recently published The Nature of Fashion, an epic sweep through the history of clothes, from learning to create garments from plants, to the changes that textiles have made to our world and the natural landscape. This writer received the honour of being invited by the Kogui people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to investigate their traditions and clothing. She talks to Rossy Lemos.
Simultaneous interpretation from English to Spanish available
All events on Sunday, February 1st will be free for people with ID from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested —up to capacity— at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your identification on the same day the event is taking place.

Homage to the porro, one of the major musical styles of the Colombian Caribbean. This event will combine a concert and a conversation. We will hear, live, the sincejelana group Acorbanda de Colombia, led by the accordionist and composer Rodrigo Rodríguez; this band is made up of 12 musicians and a guest guitarist. Maestro Rafael Pérez Alviz, a researcher into Caribbean music, and Daniel Samper Pizano will take part in a conversation about the history and cultural wealth of porro.
PULEP Code: AYC168
All events on Sunday, February 1st will be free for people with ID from the department of Bolívar. Complimentary tickets can be requested —up to capacity— at the box office of the Hay Festival (Centro de Convenciones) showing your identification on the same day the event is taking place.
