rock al parque

The first edition of the festival was held in 1995. Its origins can be traced to the Youth Music meetings that were held at the city Planetarium since 1992. The people responsible for these meetings were Mario Duarte, member of the defunct band 'La Derecha', whose objective was to garner support from Bogota's Institute of Culture and Tourism; and Julio Correal, an entrepeneur and concert promoter who ran several youth-oriented community programs within the city. The first edition of the festival was held between May 26th and May 29th, 1995, in different venues, such as the 'Media Torta' (Spanish for 'Half Cake', an outdoor theater named because its general shape resembles that of a cake that has been cut in half), Simón Bolívar Park, Olaya Herrera Stadium, and the Santa María Bullfighting Ring. This last venue was the only one to charge admission; however, after 1996, the festival did not employ the second stage at the Santa María Bullfighting Ring, thus making the festival completely free.

In 1998, 'Rock al Parque' was in danger of disappearing due to the Institute of Culture and Tourism, who did not consider the festival to be a priority for the cultural development of the city. This decision was highly unpopular with the city's inhabitants, and several protests were carried out by the city's youth, who supported the festival. The City Council of Bogotá, the legislative body of the city, later declared the festival to be part of the city's cultural heritage, and 'Rock al Parque' was allowed to continue.

Soon after, 'Rock al Parque' developed several offshoots, such as seminars, workshops, conferences, and lectures hosted by academics and other important guests.

The festival, which originally only hosted acts that played rock music, was gradually opened up to include other genres, such as punk, reggae, ska and blues. Due to this increase in diversity, the festival's organizers started scheduling bands so that different types of music could play alongside one another, as opposed to grouping acts by genre.

Nowadays the festival takes place over three days at Bogotá's Simon Bolivar Park. Two bands that belong to different genres play simultaneously on two different stages; the festival is broadcasted live over Bogotá's local news channel, 'Canal Capital', and there is a simultaneous live broadcast on 'Radiónica', a radio station that also conducts interviews with participating bands.