Yipao Festival in Calarcá

The parade is a contest with four main categories, one of which North Americans would probably call the "Beverly Hillbillies" category: Jeeps are loaded with household and farm items, and even family members, as if they were moving to a new house.

Many of the same traditional items are usually there, such as the TV, clock, phonograph, and portrait of Jesus. But this entry has an unusual touch; please tell me the head on the front isn't real.

Bicycles and guitars are a couple of fun things that add interest without a great deal of weight in the house moving category, but this entry is also carrying quite a few people and items of furniture.

Talk about moving house -- this entry is doing it literally. There is a freestyle category which allows the Jeep to be carrying just about anything, demonstrated in this 2005 photo from Calarca.net.

Perhaps the most popular category is the one in which the vehicles are loaded with the produce of the region: coffee, bananas, citrus fruits, and more. This one is carrying so much it requires some navigators to help the driver.

This photo shows the kind of crowds attracted by Yipao, and also reveals that some Willys station wagons and other classic vehicles besides flatfenders get in on the act.

Not sure what this entry represents exactly, but since everybody's dressed up it kind of looks like a dance.

On the other hand, these guys look like they've come straight in from the field, and even brought quite a bit of the field with them.

Looks like a reader of CJ3B.info cleaning out his garage. This 2005 photo would be another freestyle entry.

Count the oranges. Here's a classic example of the agricultural produce category. Almost hard to believe these Jeeps can keep their front wheels on the ground.

Oh yeah. The pique contest is about piling the Willys with an 1800 kilogram (2 ton) payload carefully positioned to make the vehicle lean backwards and advance in a straight line on two wheels for the longest possible distance.

Do not try this at home. Or anywhere else. This is not approved by CJ3B.info unless you are a Colombian yipero.

Here are a couple more 2005 photos from Calarca.net that I had to include. This one looks like a good solution to the balance problem -- as long as there are no corners to turn.

This shot puts you right into the action, and shows the relationship of man and machine which has made the Willys Jeep so beloved in the coffee country of Colombia.