The Festival Mundial de Salsa is Cali's flagship salsa celebration, organized by the city's Secretaría de Cultura to safeguard and showcase the musical-dance complex of Caleña salsa. Each September the world's salsa capital fills with workshops, talks, dance competitions, shows, concerts and gatherings of collectors and music lovers, drawing tens of thousands of visitors. The 2026 edition runs September 24-27 at the Complejo Alberto Galindo (Coliseo del Pueblo), with free, family-friendly admission to its main programming. It also coincides with the first Gran Cumbre Mundial de la Salsa, positioning Cali at the center of an Americas-wide salsa network.