Guapi, Cauca
Municipality and town
Panoramic
Flag Seal
Location of the municipality and town of Guapi, Cauca in the Cauca Department of Colombia.
Coordinates:02°34′13″N77°53′08″W / 2.57028°N 77.88556°W /2.57028; -77.88556
Country	Colombia
Department	Cauca Department
Population  (Census 2018[1])
• Total	24,037
Time zone	UTC-5 (Colombia Standard Time)
Climate	Af

Guapi is a town and municipality in theCauca Department, Colombia.^[2] The municipality of Guapi is located on theGuapi River, 4 miles (6.4 km) from thePacific Ocean, and also covers the island ofGorgona.

Guapi is a predominantlyAfro-Colombian andCatholic area,^[3][4] with a rich local history. Combining both aspects, and most prominent in local tradition, Guapireños have been buildingbalsadas – handcrafted two-tiered boats decorated with native materials – every December, as part of two ceremonies related toChristmas, for many generations. A Guapireño described the tradition as "a cultural manifestation that has been preserved for centuries and that is linked with the black community's history of resistance".^[3]

Thebalsadas traditionally honor theVirgin Mary, the town'spatron saint, and are floated down theGuapi River on the nights of both 7 December (Day of the Little Candles) andChristmas Eve. Over three days at the start of December, families in the community build thebalsadas, which consist of large canoes, then wooden rafts with two levels constructed on top of the canoes. Local yellowcorozo leaves are used for the roof and for decoration, carefully looped into patterns. Other decorations are less natural, including balloons and lights; these are used to make the rafts appear blue and white, the colors of the town's flag. The principal decoration is an image of the Virgin Mary.^[3] Afro-Pacific music is performed on thebalsadas when they are floated, and occupants often dance; the festivities have expanded to include pyrotechnics as thebalsadas approach the town square. Thousands ofcoconuts set alight meet thebalsadas in the river at the square, where the image of the Virgin Mary is carried from thebalsadas to the church ahead of the next day'sMass of theFeast of the Immaculate Conception.^[3]

Residents identify strongly with thebalsadas, which unites them both as a community activity and as a unique traditional activity pertaining to Guapi. In the 21st century, a large touristbalsada was added to the procession, with visitors able to pay to ride on it. This, and the protected heritage status of thebalsadas, have been points of contention among the resident population. Some feel that being named cultural heritage and the resulting extra funding would help to protect the tradition, while others worry that the increased awareness will further commercialise it.^[3] The associated music was inscribed asUNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015, with thebalsadas highlighted in the listing.^[5][6]

Guapi is largely Catholic. TheApostolic Vicariate of Guapi is located in Guapi. CardinalFernando Filoni has visited at the Vicariate, where in 2016 he called on Colombians to embrace peace among the community and the wider country. At the time, the church (as organised religion) in the town was identified as in development, seeking clergy, with the visit also forming an appeal to local people to become more materially involved with the church.^[4]

Like all of the Pacific Coast of Colombia, Guapi has a hot, oppressively humid, cloudy and very wettropical rainforest climate (KöppenAf). Though it is primarily served by the Guapi River, the Nape River and San Francisco River also run through the area. In November 2015, the Nape and San Francisco rivers significantly flooded Guapi, affecting 1,662 families. People were evacuated to Chuare, three hours upstream, despite this town having suffered a landslide due to the floods.^[7]

The city is served byGuapi Airport.

• Lucrecia Panchano, poet
• Jorge Perlaza, footballer
• Hernán Alvarado Solano, bishop

• Municipalities of Cauca Department
• Road-inaccessible communities of Colombia

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata