Bogotá's Birthday Parade 2014

Scenes from Bogotá's colorful birthday parade 2014. The most original, controversial and opinionated comparsa, however, was the one satirizing the Spanish Inquisition. About the only thing that one was lacking was the procurador himself.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Happy Birthday Bogotá!

A pirate float. 

Today, Bogotá celebrated its 473rd anniversary (altho the exact date was yesterday, August 6) with a parade, or comparsa, down Carrera Septima.

These girls made a giante caterpillar. 

Giant puppets in Plaza Bolívar.

A dragon. 

A waitress offers an egg. 

Peek-a-boo!

Watching from dad's shoulders. 

Gladiator guys. 

Girl gladiators fight it out!

An indigenous drummer. 

Sunflower man. 

Trailing colors in the wind. 

An indigenous group in traditional dress. 

Pretty girls on this float. 

Robots sillouetted. 

A burst of balloons for sale. 

Turtle woman walks home. 

Monkey men on the their way home. 

In nearby Third Millenium Park a father and son fly a kite. August is known as 'kite month' in Bogotá. 

Bad kids, or just suspicious-looking? 

La Candelaria resident Santos parades with the rest. 

In the evening, selling balloons on Plaza Bolívar.

In the cold evening wind, these three people took refuge in a cathedral doorway. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours