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Panorama
Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and events from around the hemisphere with AQ's Panorama. Each issue, AQ packs its bags and offers readers travel tips on a new Americas destination.

In this issue:
Rock al Parque
A New Fashion Capital?
Good Dressers...and Tasty Too
10 Things to Do: Vancouver, Canada
Indigenous Symphony
From the Think Tanks

The crowd at Rock al Parque 2012. Photo: Diego Santacruz/AP
Rock al Parque
With one of the richest musical cultures in the Americas, Colombia has added rock to its repertoire. Devout fans of the music that inspired generations of American and British teenagers since the 1950s have been gathering every year in Bogotá's Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park for Rock al Parque (Rock in the Park), the region's largest annual rock festival.

In past years, the three-day event has attracted up to 30,000 listeners (and dancers). This year's 19th annual concert, from June 29 to July 1, will feature subgenres like metal, ska, punk, and alternative rock on three separate stages.

A musician's guild started Rock al Parque in 1994 to encourage tolerance and inclusion through music. The festival caught on and has been free of charge since its second year. The concept is now part of Colombia's "cultural patrimony," boasts Andrés Cardona, who coordinates the concert under the auspices of the Instituto Distrital de las Artes (District Institute of the Arts-IDARTES), a Bogotá municipal agency under the purview of the capital district's Secretariat of Culture, Recreation and Sport.

At least 15 international groups have been invited this year, as well as six Colombian bands and 12 local artists from Bogotá-the local musicians either performing live or contributing to the festival's discography. Past Bogotano artists have included Systema Solar, 1280 Almas and Profetas. Less established groups also have a chance to be involved in the Rock events: an organizing committee sponsors a band competition each year and selects 30 winners from a field of hundreds of contestants.

And the fun doesn't end with the last guitar chord at Bolívar Park. This year, organizers plan to reprise last year's successful post-festival event, a two-week celebration of rock music throughout the capital called Avenida Ciudad Rock (City Rock Avenue). Rock al Parque-sanctioned bands will perform at bars and clubs throughout Bogotá. Cardona expects it to go even longer this year.

However, rock fans need not be present in the park to enjoy the festival. Two Colombian radio stations, Canal Capital and Radiónica, stream the concert and organizers are further promoting the festival through live web broadcasts and social media.

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A New Fashion Capital?
Jamaica may not have the fashion industry cachet of London, Milan, New York, and Paris, but Pulse Investments Ltd. hopes to change that. A 30-year-old Jamaican fashion, music and entertainment company, Pulse founded Caribbean Fashion Week (CFW) to boost global visibility for Caribbean fashion. On June 6, more than 50 top designers from 20 countries will gather in Kingston for the 13th annual CFW.

The four-day event has already received commitments from fashion celebrities like Cedella Marley (daughter of reggae icon Bob) and Tigerlily Hill. Cedella is considered a rising star in global fashion circles: she designed the uniforms for Team Jamaica in the 2012 London Olympics. Hill, the Caymanian creator of the Crown Atelier brand, won the Emerging Designer Award at last year's Caribbean Fashion Week.

Much of the buzz surrounding the event is due to the work of Pulse. Previous shows have been critical to developing the region's haute couture industry by incorporating "buyers, international press for marketing and sales support, workshops, business forums, and a professional exhibition," says Romae Gordon, fashion director at Pulse.

Some 30 sponsors, ranging from the Jamaican government to beauty product purveyors, are involved in CFW and organizers will be live streaming the shows, generating an aggressive social media campaign through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and developing the Ready for CFW television series to create additional attention. More than 300 media outlets are expected to cover the event and organizers anticipate direct and indirect sales at this year's CFW to top $100,000. "CFW has set the course for Caribbean fashion to take its place in the world," boasts Gordon.

But if CFW becomes the newest must-visit spot on the global fashion itinerary, the Caribbean's unique attractions-perfect weather, plenty of beaches to show swimsuit lines, and, of course, a reggae beat-will also have a lot to do with it.

The various bars and nightclubs throughout Kingston will host official after-parties that will keep the 5,000-plus guests and 100 models entertained as Jamaica and the Caribbean continue to gain global prestige in the fashion industry.

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Good Dressers...and Tasty Too
Few animals are as highly revered in Peru as the cuy, or guinea pig, one of the most popular delicacies in the Andes. And every spring, Peruvians honor the furry rodent with the Cuy Festival-also known as "Festicuy."

Festicuy is celebrated throughout Peru, but Jesús, one of Cajamarca province's 12 districts, has hosted its event for over 80 years. Dr. Manuel Cerna Vásquez, mayor of Jesús district's capital city (also called Jesús), says the objective of the annual festival is to promote the consumption of cuy. The one-day celebration draws a crowd of 3,000 people to the district of 14,240 inhabitants.

Visitors should bring their appetites to Festicuy. There is a wide variety of cuy cuisine available, including cuy in wine sauce, fried cuy and cuy stew served with choclo (maize), another Andean staple. After the food festival, there is also a cuy race and a contest to determine the heaviest cuy. Last year's winner tipped the scales at 2.8 kilos (6.3 lbs.), beating out four competitors.

But the highlight of the festival is the cuy fashion show, in which farmers present their cuyes in lavish costumes designed to mimic members of society: farmers, miners, school teachers, priests, historical Inca figures, and even brides and grooms. The most creatively dressed pair of cuyes are crowned festival king and queen. The winners are determined by the loudest applause from the audience, and their owners go home with $300 soles ($120).

Besides providing visitors with countless photo ops, Festicuy also offers tourism opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to the towns in central Peru. Local restaurants generate extra business and bands get publicity from playing in the dance celebration that concludes the event.

For Elard Anton Alvarado of the Municipal District of Jesús, it's still all about food. At Festicuy, "You can find the best cuy and choclo desserts in the district."

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10 Things to Do: Vancouver, Canada
BY ROBIN DEAN
Located on Canada's rugged West Coast, Vancouver is consistently ranked as one of the world's most livable cities-thanks to its vibrant outdoors culture, low crime rate and efficient urban infrastructure. The one-time logging outpost is now a multicultural metropolis of 2.3 million, with a temperate climate that makes it hospitable year-round. Just remember to pack an umbrella. Note: the Canadian dollar is nearly equivalent to the U.S. dollar.

1. Experience Vancouver's wild side. Stanley Park offers 1,000 acres of natural beauty in the heart of the city. Bike by the seawall, hike among giant Douglas firs, or greet the beluga whales at the Vancouver Aquarium (C$21).

2. Learn about Canada's Aboriginal peoples. The architecturally stunning Museum of Anthropology on the University of British Columbia's campus boasts a world-renowned collection of totem poles, canoes and other artifacts crafted by British Columbia's First Nations (C$16.75).

3. Hail a water taxi. For a unique way to see the city, take an "aquabus' or water taxi from one of the city docks and head to the public market at Granville Island, where you can shop for art, boutique clothes and specialty foods. Terra Breads and Oyama serve up some of Vancouver's best bread and charcuterie.

4. Raise your glass. Gastown, a National Historic Site and Vancouver's oldest neighborhood, is a nightlife hub for Vancouverites. Sample British Columbian wines and local cheeses at Salt (45 Blood Alley Square) and then dance the night away at Fortune Sound Club, which features some of the city's best DJs.

5. Celebrate the Year of the Snake. Since the 1890s, Chinatown has been the heart of Vancouver's largest ethnic minority. In the summer, visit the night market, where hundreds of vendors gather to sell crafts and tempt passersby with a delicious array of snacks.

6. Work up a sweat. Follow local fitness buffs up the Grouse Grind, an 850-meter (2,789-foot) trail up Grouse Mountain, affectionately termed "Mother Nature's Stairmaster," for an unparalleled view of the city, the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf Islands, and the surrounding peaks. Want the view but not the work? Take the Skyride tram from the bottom.

7. Dazzle your eyes. On select nights in July and August, Vancouver hosts the Celebration of Light, the world's largest offshore fireworks competition. In 2012, Italy took home highest honors.

8. Root for the home team. Head to Rogers Arena to watch the Canucks, Vancouver's professional hockey team, compete in Canada's national sport. Vancouver is also home to the Whitecaps FC, a Major League Soccer team, which plays at BC Place, the main stadium of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

9. Gorge on ramen. Vancouver's culinary delights reflect its cultural diversity. Sample the elegant Indian food at Vij's (1480 W. 11th Ave.), slurp chewy, handmade ramen noodles at Kintaro (788 Denman St.), or sample some of the city's favorite sushi at Miku, in Coal Harbour. For the best of the Pacific Northwest, head to Hawksworth, in the historic Hotel Georgia (801 W. Georgia St.).

10. Feel the sand between your toes.
Vancouverites joke that their city is the Los Angeles of Canada-and it has the beaches to prove it. Suit up and head down to Kits Beach to check out a volleyball game or to watch the tide come in.