Golden Congo
The Golden Congo is a Colombian music award that since its founding in 1969 has been presented annually at the Orchestra Festival of the Barranquilla Carnival.
The current Golden Congo award comprises six genre prizes: Vallenato, Merengue, Tropical, Salsa, Urbano, Folk, and four additional prizes: Newcomer, Best Vocalist, Best Instrumentalist and Lo Nuestro.
Winners
2024–2025
The 2025 Orchestra Festival took place on Sunday 2 March.For the first time, it was planned that only one Golden Congo would be awarded.
The award was won by salsa artist Byordy, with La Charanga del Sur coming in second place, and Luismi Yánez in third.
| Year | Recipients of a Golden Congo |
| 2025 | Byordy |
In 2024 the Barranquilla Carnival celebrated its 20th incarnation since being proclaimed intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2003.
As part of the celebrations, the Orchestra Festival did not hold a competition for the Golden Congo, but instead awarded one to every performer.
| Year | Recipients of a Golden Congo |
| 2024 | La Orquesta Internacional de la Policía, Gaiteros de San Jacinto Nueva Generación, Zona 8 Orquesta, Mary Ángel Sanabria, Tubará Reggae, Dionis K da Uno, Son del Sabor, Orquesta Klasica de Ibagué, Los Diferentes del Vallenato, Rafa Pérez, Omar Enrique, Will Fiorillo, La Carmen, Álvaro Ricardo, Cris & Ronny |
2012–2023
In 2012 Golden Congos for "best performance" and "urbano music" were given for the first time, and the "newcomer" prize was reintroduced.In 2016 the Golden Congo for performance was split into separate prizes for vocalists and instrumentalists, and in 2018 "folk" was reintroduced as a genre category.
On the 50th anniversary of the Orchestra Festival in 2019 no awards were given;
instead, past competitors and winners returned to perform at the festival, including Los Corraleros de Majagual, Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Pacho Galán, Checo Acosta,,, Sergio Vargas,, Eddy Herrera, Bazurto All Stars, and Jorge Oñate.
In 2021 there was no Barranquilla Carnival due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the Orchestra Festival held a virtual event featuring past performances.
1995–2011
In 1995 the categories "newcomer" and "folk group" were discontinued, and a prize was introduced called the "Premio Rescate de lo Nuestro". It later became known as simply "Lo Nuestro", and at one point as "Lo Nuestro 'Roberto de Castro'".1994
In 1994 prizes for the musical genres of merengue, tropical, and salsa were introduced, in place of "orchestra" and "ensemble". 1994 was also the last year that "newcomer" and "folk group" were awarded until their return in 2012 and 2018 respectively.| Year | Vallenato/Accordion | Merengue | Tropical | Salsa | Newcomer | Folk Group |
| 1994 | Los Betos | Grupo Bananas | Checo Acosta | El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico | La Clave | Swing Barranquilla |
1989–1993
In 1989 the category of "newcomer" was awarded for the first time, and in 1992 "folk group" was introduced as a category; both were discontinued after 1994 and reintroduced in the 2010s.1978–1988
In 1978 the category of "vallenato" was introduced, which was also sometimes awarded as "accordion".The "ensemble" prize was occasionally awarded as "group" instead.
From 1981 the ensemble prize was regularly split by either genre or by nationality.
| Year | Orchestra | Ensemble/Group | Vallenato/Accordion |
| 1988 | Joe Arroyo | Los Inéditos | Binomio de Oro |
| 1988 | Los Tupamaros | Los Inéditos | Binomio de Oro |
| 1987 | Pacho Galán | Joe Arroyo | Binomio de Oro |
| 1987 | Pacho Galán | Wilfrido Vargas | Binomio de Oro |
| 1986 | Hermanos Martelo | Joe Arroyo | Los Hermanos Zuleta |
| 1986 | Hermanos Martelo | Wilfrido Vargas | Los Hermanos Zuleta |
| 1985 | Los Caribes | Joe Arroyo | Jorge Oñate |
| 1985 | Los Caribes | Johnny Ventura & Los Vecinos | Jorge Oñate |
| 1984 | Hermanos Martelo | Joe Arroyo | Jorge Oñate |
| 1984 | Hermanos Martelo | Johnny Ventura & Los Vecinos | Jorge Oñate |
| 1983 | Hermanos Martelo | Juan Piña | Diomedes Díaz |
| 1983 | Hermanos Martelo | Cuco Valoy | Diomedes Díaz |
| 1982 | Pacho Galán | Juan Piña | El Doble Poder |
| 1982 | Pacho Galán | Wilfrido Vargas | El Doble Poder |
| 1981 | Pacho Galán | Jorge Oñate | |
| 1981 | Pacho Galán | Cuco Valoy | Jorge Oñate |
| 1980 | Los Melódicos | Juan Piña | Alfredo Gutiérrez |
| 1979 | Los Melódicos | Pastor López y sus famosas Caleñas | Jorge Oñate |
| 1978 | Pacho Galán | Fruko y sus Tesos | Binomio de Oro |
1969–1977
From 1969 to 1977 the only categories were "orchestra" and "ensemble".| Year | Orchestra | Ensemble |
| 1977 | Pacho Galán | Adolfo Echeverría |
| 1976 | Los Caribes | Alfredo Gutiérrez |
| 1975 | Hermanos Martelo | |
| 1974 | Pacho Galán | Fruko y sus Tesos |
| 1973 | Lucho Bermúdez | Nelson Henríquez |
| 1972 | Los Melódicos | Afrocombo |
| 1972 | Afrocombo | |
| 1971 | Hermanos Martelo | Los Graduados |
| 1970 | Hermanos Martelo | La Sonora Matancera |
| 1969 | Billo's Caracas Boys | Los Corraleros de Majagual |
Special awards
Occasionally special Golden Congos are given to recognise particular achievements.The Super Congo
The Super Congo was created in 1990 specifically to honour Joe Arroyo, who had won a Golden Congo at each of the 6 preceding festivals.Since then the Super Congo has been awarded several times.
| Year | Recipient |
| 1990 | Joe Arroyo |
| 1991 | Los Hermanos Rosario |
| 1998 | Shakira |
| 2013 | Checo Acosta |
| 2014 | Grupo Niche |
| 2014 | Jorge Oñate |
| Year | Recipient |
| 2014 | Martín Elías & Juancho De la Espriella |
| 2015 | Cuco Valoy |
Unique awards
Some Golden Congos have only been given once. In 1985 Alejo Durán was awarded the "Special Congo".In 1989 Alfredo de la Fe won a Golden Congo for "Best Solo Artist". In 1994 Cristian del Real received an honourable mention as the "boy genius of the timbal."
In 2025 a Platinum Congo was awarded via audience applause to Orquesta La Máxima.
Related awards
Golden Congos are also given for floats and dancers that take part in the Battle of the Flowers parade of the Barranquilla Carnival.Night of Orchestras
At the Barranquilla Carnival Night of Orchestras a jury awards Golden Congos in the same genre categories as the Orchestra Festival, and in addition awards the "Antonio María Peñaloza" prize for an unpublished song.The competition at the Night of Orchestras is open to musicians and groups from Barranquilla and the surrounding region.
The awards at the Night of Orchestras were first given in 2018, and the winners received automatic entry to the competition at the Orchestra Festival that year.
In 2019 no competition was held at the Orchestra Festival, and since then winners at the Night of Orchestras have been granted entry to the Orchestra Festival the following year, as opposed to the same year.