Rock of Guatapé frames Boat Fest on 3 October
Published on 09/27/2026 at 09:58 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Guatapé Boat Fest will place the Rock of Guatapé (Piedra del Peñol) in view during a water-based festival in Guatapé, Colombia, on 3 October 2026. The event combines live music, navigation and the reservoir landscape around the well-known monolith.
Guatapé Boat Fest brings boats to the Rock of Guatapé
The second edition of Guatapé Boat Fest is listed for 3 October 2026 as part of Guatapé's wider Fiestas de Guatapé programme. The event page gives Guatapé, Antioquia, as the venue and identifies the rock as its backdrop.
The published format is different from a visit to the summit. The organiser describes a festival reached by boat, with options for visitors who already have a vessel and water transport for those who do not. The listing presents the event as an in-person festival in the municipality and names Guatapé as its organiser. Guatapé Boat Fest listing
How the festival setting connects with the granite monolith
The Rock of Guatapé is a granite monolith rising 220 metres above the surrounding landscape. Its 740 concrete steps lead through a natural fissure to the summit, where the reservoir and its islands form the wider view.
The setting gives Boat Fest a direct geographical link to the attraction without making the festival a climbing event. Visitors on the water will see the rock from the reservoir, while those climbing it will experience the same landscape from above. Guatapé's official tourism guide places the monolith, the town and the reservoir within one connected destination. official Guatapé tourism guide
Guatapé's reservoir landscape was shaped by twentieth-century change
The local tourism account records a first ascent of the rock in 1954, before the later transformation of the valley. Work on the Peñol-Guatapé hydroelectric project began in 1960, and the reservoir eventually covered parts of the former landscape.
That history explains why a water festival can use the monolith as its visual reference. The present-day view of the rock surrounded by water is not an ancient landscape but the result of changes that reshaped the valley during the twentieth century.
Visiting Rock of Guatapé: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Guatapé Boat Fest is scheduled for 3 October 2026 in Guatapé, Antioquia, with the Rock of Guatapé named as the backdrop.
- The festival is reached by water rather than on foot, so it is separate from climbing the monolith's staircase and does not replace access to the summit.
- The rock stands in the Guatapé reservoir landscape in eastern Antioquia, while Guatapé town provides the named municipal setting for the festival.
- The climb involves 740 concrete steps through a steep natural fissure, and the rock rises 220 metres above its base.
- Spanish is Colombia's official language and the national currency is the Colombian peso.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
Searching for Rock of Guatapé on social platforms
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Frequently asked questions about Rock of Guatapé
When does Guatapé Boat Fest take place at the Rock of Guatapé?
Guatapé Boat Fest is scheduled for 3 October 2026 in Guatapé, with the rock as its named backdrop.
Where is the Rock of Guatapé and how do you get there?
The monolith is in the reservoir landscape of eastern Antioquia, near Guatapé. Boat Fest access is by water, while the summit is reached by its concrete staircase.
What is the Rock of Guatapé?
It is a 220-metre granite monolith with 740 steps leading through a natural fissure to the summit above the reservoir.
