Colombia's Vallenato Folk Music Endangered: UNESCO

The United Nations cultural organization UNESCO warned Tuesday that Colombia's Vallenato folk music is endangered by conflict.

“The armed conflict in Colombia, a new wave of Vallenato and declining space for the 'parrandas' remain threats,” UNESCO stated.

Parrandas are traditional street gatherings in Colombia, where Vallenato is often played. Along with the instability spurred by Colombia's civil war, Vallenato is also being threatened by the commercial music industry.

The “new wave” of Vallenato “is marginalizing traditional Vallenato music and diminishing its role in social cohesion,” according to UNESCO.

While new forms of pop Vallenato have put a handful of Colombian musicians on the world stage, it has been criticized in Colombia for straying from the genre's folk roots.

“Lastly, the use of street spaces for Vallenato 'parrandas' is declining, removing a crucial space for intergenerational transfer of musical knowledge,” the organization warned.

The traditional form of Vallenato is listed by UNESCO as part of humanity's “intangible cultural heritage” and “vital to regional identity.”

“Traditional Vallenato music fuses cultural expressions from northern Colombia, songs of cow-herders from the Greater Magdalena region, chants of African slaves, Spanish poetry, dance from the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and European-style instruments,” UNESCO stated.

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