Villa de Leyva Kite Festival: Colombia’s Windy Weekend of Kites and Solidarity
Colombia · Culture
Key Facts
- —When The 49th Festival del Viento y las Cometas runs Friday 14 to Monday 17 August 2026, timed for the windy season and the mid-August holiday puente (Monday 17 is a public holiday in Colombia).
- —Where Villa de Leyva’s Plaza Mayor, one of the largest cobblestone squares in South America, in Boyaca department, with a delimited cometodromo (kite field) set up in the same square.
- —Cost Free to attend in the open-air plaza; only competitors pay a registration fee of COP 15,000 (about US$5) per category, paid at least an hour before their event.
- —This year’s cause A donation point set up from Saturday 15 August in the cometodromo area collects aid for communities hit by the August 2026 earthquake in Colombia.
- —Guest of honor Guatemala, whose ASOSDEC group from Santiago Sacatepequez brings its UNESCO-recognized tradition of giant barriletes (giant kites).
This year the sky over Colombia’s grandest colonial plaza fills with giant Guatemalan kites. And a quiet donation stand turns the fun into a helping hand for earthquake victims.
The Villa de Leyva kite festival is Colombia’s most joyful excuse to look up. A four-day burst of color over the biggest colonial plaza in the country.
Held in the windy Boyaca highlands about three hours from Bogota. The 2026 edition runs from Friday 14 to Monday 17 August and pairs its usual carnival of kites with something more tender: a drive to help families still reeling from this month’s earthquake.
For expats, residents and weekenders alike, it is one of the easiest and most heartwarming outings on the Colombian calendar.
What the Villa de Leyva Kite Festival Is All About
Every August, when the Andean winds sweep steadily across the high plateau of Boyaca. The town of Villa de Leyva throws itself into the Festival del Viento y las Cometas, the Festival of Wind and Kites.
In 2026 it reaches its 49th edition, which tells you just how deep this tradition runs. For nearly half a century, families have packed picnics, unrolled string.
And turned the town’s enormous square into a living painting of dragons, birds, geometric diamonds and homemade creations. The appeal is refreshingly simple.
There is no stage you must pay to see and no headliner you have to queue for. Instead, the whole square becomes the show.
You wander among competitors launching acrobatic kites, watch children chase their first paper diamond into the air. And feel the collective gasp when a giant inflatable kite finally catches the wind and rises.
Because it lands on Colombia’s mid-August long weekend, the festival draws a warm. Mixed crowd of boyacenses, bogotanos escaping the city, and curious foreigners.
It is family-friendly, unpretentious, and photogenic in a way few events manage without trying.
When It Happens and the August Long Weekend
The 2026 festival runs across four days, from Friday 14 August through Monday 17 August. Friday works mostly as an arrival and warm-up day.
While the real competitions and the biggest crowds gather on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 August. Monday 17 August, a public holiday in Colombia, is given over largely to free flying.
So anyone can simply turn up with a kite and join in. The timing is no accident.
August is the windiest stretch of the year on the Boyaca plateau, which is exactly what a kite festival needs. It also coincides with the puente, the Monday holiday that follows Assumption Day.
Giving people a three-day weekend to travel out from Bogota and Tunja. If you want the full spectacle, aim for Saturday or Sunday.
If you would rather dodge the thickest crowds and just fly your own kite in a relaxed mood. The Monday holiday is your best bet.
A Festival That Flies for a Cause This Year
The 2026 edition carries an extra layer of meaning. After the earthquake that struck Colombia this August, the town has folded a solidarity drive into the celebration.
The municipal government has set up a donation point, from Saturday 15 August. In a tent in the cometodromo area of the Plaza Mayor, where visitors can drop off aid for affected communities.
Villa de Leyva’s acting mayor, Nicolas Mendez, framed it plainly: alongside the flying and the music. Attendees can contribute help for the families hit hardest by the disaster.
It is a gentle, no-pressure gesture that lets a day of fun double as a day of giving. So if you are heading up for the weekend, consider packing a little extra in your bag.
Non-perishable food, water, blankets and basic supplies are the kind of practical help these collection drives usually welcome. And dropping them off takes only a moment on your way into the square.
Guatemala’s Giant Kites Steal the Show
Each year the festival invites a guest country of honor, and for 2026 that spot goes to Guatemala. Its delegation, the ASOSDEC group from the town of Santiago Sacatepequez, is famous for a tradition that UNESCO has recognized: the barriletes gigantes.
Or giant kites, some of them enormous discs of hand-cut tissue paper mounted on bamboo frames. These giant kites are less about flying high and more about craft and meaning.
Back home in Guatemala they are traditionally raised on the Day of the Dead as a bridge between the living and their ancestors. Which gives them a quiet solemnity that sits well with this year’s solidarity theme.
The Guatemalan group is slated to lead an inaugural flight titled ‘Cuando el pueblo une los vientos’ (When the people unite the winds). Even if you have seen plenty of kites.
The scale and detail of these barriletes make them worth the trip on their own.
What It Costs and How to Take Part
Here is the good news for your budget: there is no entrance fee to enjoy the festival. It unfolds in the open-air Plaza Mayor, so you can watch, wander and let your kids run around without buying a ticket.
That makes it one of the best-value weekends in the country for a family. The only documented cost is for people who want to compete.
Registration for the kite contests is COP 15,000. Roughly US$5 at the mid-August 2026 rate of about 3,124 pesos to the dollar, and it covers any category.
You need to sign up at least an hour before your particular competition starts. The categories are wonderfully varied, from handmade and miniature kites to acrobatic, delta.
Vertical-flight and long-distance events, plus a women’s category and a special queen kite contest. There are divisions for children, adults and teams, so almost anyone can join.
Beyond the contests, expect kite-making workshops along with origami and balloon-modeling sessions for younger visitors.
The Plaza Mayor and the Cometodromo
The heart of it all is the Plaza Mayor. A vast expanse of rough cobblestones ringed by whitewashed colonial buildings and framed by the mountains beyond.
It is one of the largest town squares in South America. And standing in the middle of it while dozens of kites dance overhead is the whole reason to come.
Within the square, organizers rope off a cometodromo, the designated flying and competition field. Daytime contests concentrate there, while the plaza also hosts the opening ceremony, artistic acts and evening shows.
The donation stand for earthquake relief sits in this same cometodromo sector. Bear in mind that the square is genuinely made of uneven cobbles, so comfortable, sturdy shoes matter far more here than style.
Sun protection is wise too, because the high-altitude light is strong even when the air feels cool.
How to Get There From Bogota
Villa de Leyva sits roughly 160 to 180 kilometers north of Bogota, depending on the route. And the drive typically takes around three hours in good conditions, stretching to four on a busy holiday weekend.
The most common route runs through Tunja, the capital of Boyaca, on decent paved roads. If you do not have a car, frequent buses connect Bogota’s main terminal with Tunja.
Where you change for a short onward ride to Villa de Leyva. Many Bogota-based travelers also join organized weekend trips that bundle the transport and take the driving off your plate.
Because this is a long-holiday weekend, expect heavier traffic and temporary one-way schemes around the town on Friday, Saturday and Monday. Leaving early in the day, in either direction, will save you the worst of the queues.
Note that this year, vehicles carrying humanitarian aid are given priority on the roads because of the earthquake emergency.
Where to Stay and What Else to Do
Villa de Leyva is a destination in its own right, not just a festival backdrop. The colonial center is a maze of cobbled lanes, cafes.
Boutique posadas and restaurants, and it is one of Colombia’s prettiest small towns. Because the kite weekend is peak season, book your accommodation well ahead, as rooms fill fast and prices climb.
When you need a break from the plaza, the surrounding area rewards a wander. There are vineyards, a quirky terracotta house.
Fossil museums that nod to the region’s ancient seabed past, and desert-like landscapes just outside town. It is easy to build the festival into a two- or three-day escape.
Evenings bring the square to life again with music and food. This year’s program includes shows and concerts across the weekend, so the fun does not stop when the wind drops at dusk.
Tips for a Great Day at the Festival
Bring cash. Small towns like Villa de Leyva can be light on card readers and reliable ATMs, especially on a packed holiday weekend.
So pesos in hand will save you hassle for snacks, parking and any competition fee. Dress in layers.
The Boyaca highlands can swing from bright sun to sharp wind and cool shade within an hour. So a jacket you can stuff in a bag is your friend.
A hat, sunscreen and water round out the kit. Finally, buy or bring a kite.
Half the joy of the Villa de Leyva kite festival is not watching but doing. Local vendors sell simple, colorful kites for a few thousand pesos.
And there is no better souvenir than the memory of getting your own into that huge Andean sky.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Villa de Leyva kite festival in 2026?
The 49th Festival del Viento y las Cometas runs from Friday 14 to Monday 17 August 2026. The main competitions fall on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16, while Monday 17.
Is the festival free to attend?
Yes. There is no entrance fee to enjoy the festival in the open-air Plaza Mayor.
How do I get to Villa de Leyva from Bogota?
It is roughly 160 to 180 kilometers north of Bogota. About a three-hour drive via Tunja in normal conditions and up to four hours on the holiday weekend.
How can I help earthquake victims at the festival?
The town has set up a donation point from Saturday 15 August in the cometodromo area of the Plaza Mayor. Where visitors can drop off aid for communities affected by the August 2026 earthquake in Colombia.
Connected Coverage
Sources: Alcaldia de Villa de Leyva / Secretaria de Turismo event listing; El Espectador (festival dates and program); Caracol Radio (solidarity donation drive, guest country, acting mayor Nicolas Mendez); travel and transport guides for Bogota-Villa de Leyva; open.er-api.com (FX rate).
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