Las Lajas Sanctuary hosted a choir festival on 3 October
Published on 10/04/2026 at 01:37 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Las Lajas Sanctuary (Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Las Lajas) hosted a presentation by the XVIII International Choir Festival on 3 October 2026, connecting the religious site in Ipiales, Colombia, with a regional programme of music and cultural exchange.
The festival, titled Por Esto Cantamos Juntos, ran from 1 to 6 October 2026 across different venues in Nariño. The presentation at the sanctuary placed visiting coralists among the architecture and landscape of one of the department's best-known pilgrimage sites.
Las Lajas Sanctuary hosted the festival on 3 October
The programme brought together groups from Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia for concerts, cultural meetings and training activities. A report by Diario del Sur said the festival reached the sanctuary on 3 October.
The same programme included a tribute to Nariño teacher Magda Cabrera. Her work El arte de vivir was scheduled to be performed by 276 coralists from the participating choirs, while the appearance at Las Lajas brought music, spirituality, heritage and culture together at the site.
For visitors, the dated event was therefore more than a concert listing. The sanctuary supplied the setting for an encounter between international choral groups and a place whose religious role has shaped the surrounding region since the eighteenth century.
The choir festival met a basilica built over a canyon
The present church stands over the canyon of the Guaitara River in Nariño. The custodian's construction history of the sanctuary records a neo-Gothic building developed between 1916 and 1949.
Architects Lucindo Espinosa from Nariño and Gualberto Perez from Ecuador took part in the project. The church is supported by a substantial bridge, which also provides the base and access route across the canyon.
That structure gives the 3 October festival appearance its particular setting. The choirs were not simply using a hall in Ipiales; their performance took place within a basilica integrated with the rock, bridge and ravine that define the sanctuary's physical identity.
The site occupies the location associated with the veneration of Our Lady of Las Lajas. A first chapel was promoted there in 1754, a more permanent brick and lime church followed between 1769 and 1776, and later enlargement preceded the present building.
What the 3 October programme meant for the site
The festival added a temporary cultural use to a living religious complex without changing its underlying function. Its programme joined international performers with local heritage, while the sanctuary remained recognisable as a place of worship and pilgrimage.
The event also connected Ipiales with the wider Nariño festival circuit. Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia were represented in the programme, reflecting the cross-border cultural links of a sanctuary situated in southern Colombia near the Ecuadorian frontier.
The relationship between music and architecture was especially direct here. The building's long construction history and canyon setting became part of the audience's experience, rather than a separate background note.
Visiting Las Lajas Sanctuary: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The choir festival ran from 1 to 6 October 2026, with the Las Lajas Sanctuary presentation taking place on 3 October 2026.
- The dated programme placed the performance at the sanctuary itself, but the available report does not state a change to ordinary religious access.
- The sanctuary is in the canyon of the Guaitara River, in Nariño, near Ipiales and southern Colombia.
- The present building is neo-Gothic and rises above a canyon, with a bridge forming its base and access route. Visitors should expect steep canyon terrain and architectural structures spanning the ravine.
- Spanish is the official language of Colombia 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.
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Frequently asked questions about Las Lajas Sanctuary
When did the choir festival take place at Las Lajas Sanctuary?
The XVIII International Choir Festival ran from 1 to 6 October 2026, and its presentation at the sanctuary took place on 3 October 2026.
Where is Las Lajas Sanctuary and how do you get there?
It stands in the Guaitara River canyon in Nariño, near Ipiales in southern Colombia. The sanctuary's bridge forms part of the access route to the church.
What is Las Lajas Sanctuary?
It is a neo-Gothic basilica and pilgrimage site whose present structure was built between 1916 and 1949 above the canyon.
