Vallenato is a popular folk music genre that arose on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Like cumbia, it emerged from the union of three cultural sources: the European (accordion and melody), the indigenous (the cane scraper guacharaca), and the African (the caja drum).
The classic vallenato ensemble consists of precisely these three instruments. Historically the genre was the art of wandering singer-storytellers who, travelling from village to village, carried news, stories, and legends in song — so vallenato became a living oral chronicle of the region. In 2015 traditional vallenato was inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage in need of safeguarding. Today it is one of the most popular and beloved genres of Colombia, a symbol of its national cultural identity.
