Bogota experienced something truly unique in August 2025 when Colombia Tech Fest transformed an entire outdoor park into a celebration of innovation, culture, and business.
This groundbreaking event represented the first 100% open-air technology festival in Colombia, bringing together thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and tech enthusiasts under the Bogota sky.
Across two unforgettable days, attendees experienced technology not behind closed conference room doors, but in a vibrant, creative outdoor setting that blended innovation with art, food, and entertainment in ways traditional tech conferences never could.
The festival’s arrival marked a significant moment for Colombian entrepreneurship. Rather than following the conventional conference center model, organizers reimagined how tech communities gather by creating immersive experiences that invited interaction rather than passive observation.
This bold approach reflected Colombia’s growing confidence in positioning itself as a regional innovation leader capable of hosting world-class events with unique character and local flavor.
A global gathering with Latin American spirit
Over 8,000 attendees from different countries converged on Parque Museo El Chico for two days that redefined technology festival experiences. Seventy international speakers participated, including founders of high-impact startups, artificial intelligence leaders, venture capital experts, and executives from major technology corporations.
This impressive speaker roster ensured attendees accessed cutting-edge insights from recognized innovation leaders while maintaining a diverse, inclusive atmosphere celebrating entrepreneurship from multiple perspectives.
Beyond the speakers, over 200 investment funds and companies participated in business matching sessions, mentoring sessions, and strategic connection opportunities. This concentration of capital and expertise created authentic pathways for startups seeking investment, mentors seeking emerging entrepreneurs, and investors seeking promising opportunities. The diversity of participants ensured rich networking across multiple sectors and geographies.
Interactive experiences replaced traditional lectures
What distinguished Colombia Tech Fest from other technology conferences was its commitment to immersive, interactive experiences. Rather than confining attendees to auditoriums, the festival created coworking spaces, augmented reality zones, robotics activities, video game showcases, and live entertainment throughout the venue.
Practical workshops focused on growth strategies, sales techniques, product development, and capital raising provided actionable knowledge attendees could apply immediately.
This experiential approach reflected an important philosophy; technology should be explored, felt, and experienced directly rather than merely discussed.
Attendees didn’t just learn about how technology transforms industries and lifestyles; they directly interacted with emerging technologies, playing with augmented reality tools, exploring robotics innovations, and engaging with digital experiences that made abstract concepts tangible and memorable.
Colombia’s innovation leadership confirmed
The festival’s success demonstrated Colombia’s capacity to articulate efforts around shared innovation vision. Colombia Tech Week extended from Aug. 18 through 30 across both Bogota and Medellin, featuring over 200 coordinated events involving entrepreneurs, investors, public institutions, and specialized media.
This broader ecosystem activity positioned Colombia convincingly as Latin America’s innovation epicenter.
The event organizers, including Nicolas Cruz and Daniel Bilbao, explicitly aimed beyond capital raising toward community building, tradition-challenging, and support for startups ready for global scaling. They envisioned an open, collaborative space for celebrating innovation with purpose, connecting business innovation with cultural expression and technological advancement as deeply interconnected rather than separate domains.
A festival that transformed regional perspectives
Colombia Tech Fest 2025 represented far more than another industry gathering. The event declared that innovation thrives best when celebrated openly, collaboratively, and purposefully.
By bringing technology outdoors and integrating business with culture and entertainment, organizers demonstrated that Latin American tech communities need not imitate established conference formats from other regions but could create distinctive, meaningful experiences reflecting local culture and values.
The festival successfully mobilized over US$50 million in investment opportunities while building authentic community connections among thousands of participants. More importantly, it reinforced that Colombia possesses both the talent and organizational capability to lead technology innovation throughout Latin America, not through isolated individual startups but through coordinated ecosystem development celebrating entrepreneurship, culture, and vision collectively.