1950s – 2020sPeak: 1990s
Vallenato
About Vallenato
Accordion-driven song from the plains around Valledupar, built on three instruments: the German button accordion, the caja drum, and the guacharaca scraper. Composers like Rafael Escalona turned everyday news into sung stories, and Diomedes Díaz became its most beloved voice. Carlos Vives modernized it for global audiences in the 1990s, and UNESCO recognized traditional vallenato as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015.