About Bullerengue Circle
Bullerengue Circle CIC creates spaces for people to connect, learn and create through bullerengue, while supporting artists to develop their practices, build networks, access opportunities and reach new audiences.
We work across Colombia, the UK and Europe through artistic exchange, workshops, performances, touring, collaboration and community programmes.
Bullerengue Circle began in 2019 as a community around bullerengue in London and became a Community Interest Company in 2022.
We work with bullerengue as a living artistic and community practice, creating opportunities for people to learn, participate, perform and connect.
Our work has grown into a network connecting artists, practitioners and communities across Colombia, the UK and Europe.
We support artists through artistic learning, knowledge exchange, performance, touring, collaboration, professional networks and opportunities to reach new audiences.
Workshops, ruedas, drumming circles and participatory events.
Learning, knowledge exchange, collaboration, performance and professional opportunities.
Connecting artists and practitioners between Colombia, the UK and Europe.
Creating platforms for artists and bullerengue to reach new audiences.
Artistic and community projects connecting artists, practitioners and audiences across Colombia, the UK and Europe.
An annual free, participatory community festival celebrating the richness and the diversity of Abya Yala (Latin America). Co-produced by Bullerengue Circle, FLAWA and Palacio de Poetas, the festival platforms grassroots and emerging artists and creates opportunities for audiences to go from spectators to active participants and co-creators. Its third edition (2026) was funded by the Arts Council England.
London-based \Akolá Tambó is the first traditional bullerengue group in the UK and Europe. Through research, performance and collaboration, the group creates spaces for cultural exchange and dialogue, working with acclaimed practitioners and maestros from the bullerengue tradition in Colombia. Since its formation, Akolá Tambó has performed at festivals, venues and cultural centres across the UK and beyond. In 2025, the group released its debut album, Son Pa’ Los Palenques, marking a milestone as the first traditional bullerengue album produced in the UK. The group is now preparing its second album with support from Help Musicians through the MOBO Help Musicians Fund.
Part of HKW’s Politics of Rhythm programme, this ongoing collaboration brings regular participatory bullerengue workshops to Berlin, facilitated by artists who maintain and carry this living tradition. Bullerengue Circle accompanied and co-facilitated the initial workshop series in 2023 and subsequent sessions in 2024, 2025 and 2026, including dedicated time supporting participants interested in developing their own bullerengue music practice.
Darlina Sáenz’s first tour to Europe and the UK, organised and managed by Bullerengue Circle in collaboration with international partners. The tour connected the acclaimed cantadora and cultural bearer with artists, bullerengue communities and audiences through workshops, performances and cultural exchange.
The first international circulation project of bullerengue in its original format, Bullerengue All Stars brought together an intergenerational ensemble of masters and young practitioners from Turbo and San Basilio de Palenque. Across seven cities in five countries, the tour created opportunities for artists to perform, teach and connect with new audiences, contributing significantly to the development of audiences for bullerengue in the UK and Europe while strengthening the international bullerengue network.
A documentation and visibility project connecting with bullerengue artists and practitioners in their territories in Colombia. Bullerengue Circle records and shares their music and stories online, creating a digital platform for artists who have limited access to recording and wider audiences.
A programme with José Ángel Oviedo, a bullerengue cantador (singer) from Puerto Escondido, Colombia, culminating in a performance in collaboration with Akolá Tambó. Supported by the Colombian Ministry of Culture, José Ángel engaged in a cultural exchange organised and produced by Bullerengue Circle, creating opportunities to share his knowledge and musical practice with the local bullerengue community.
What began informally in 2019 at a squat in North London has grown into a sustained space for people to develop and share their bullerengue practice. Initially known as La Bulla, the project was later supported by the Cancillería de Colombia and developed into Lunes de Tambó, a weekly session at the Colombian Consulate in London. Now known as La Bulla Bullerenguera and supported twice by the National Lottery’s Awards for All, it continues to bring together musicians, singers, dancers and enthusiasts, creating a space where community grows and people can connect with their creative selves through bullerengue.
Supported twice by the Agrigento Music Fund and through ongoing crowdfunding, Bullerengue Circle supports bullerengue practitioners Yarley Escudero and Maritza Moya of Corporación Corazón de Tambó (Turbo), and Emelia Reyes and Franklin Hernández of Fundación Famia Ri Tabalá (San Basilio de Palenque), to teach bullerengue to children and young people in their territories. The project supports the transmission and revitalisation of the tradition while strengthening cultural identity and creating opportunities for younger generations to connect with their cultural heritage.
A programme supporting Colombian percussionists touring in the UK by creating a platform to share their knowledge through workshops and jams centred around the Alegre drum, where the London community can learn bullerengue percussion directly from practitioners of the tradition. Guests have included Álvaro Llerena, Kike Camargo, Javier López and La Perla.
A children’s programme creating an accessible first step into bullerengue music practice. Funded by Youth Music and subsequently the National Lottery, the project introduced children of Latin American heritage to singing, drumming, dancing and collective music making through weekly bullerengue sessions.
Bullerengue is an Afro Colombian musical and cultural tradition from the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It brings together voice, rhythm, movement, oral tradition and active participation as a way of sustaining identity, transmitting knowledge and nurturing community.
For Bullerengue Circle, it is a living practice: something to be learned, shared, performed and continually developed.
Bullerengue creates spaces for connection between generations, communities and artists.
Bullerengue Circle connects artists and communities across Colombia, the UK and Europe through bullerengue.
Your support helps us create spaces to learn and participate, support artists to develop their practices, bring artists across borders and create opportunities for bullerengue to reach new audiences.
Artists, venues, festivals, cultural organisations, community groups and funders can help create new opportunities.
Get in touchHelp with events, workshops, community activities, documentation, communications, research or your own skills and ideas.
Email usEvery contribution helps support artists, learning opportunities, performances, community events and ongoing work.
Donate to our campaign