TamarANNETuesday - Expo Maiz and Cotton-top Tamarins

From Cornfields to Conservation: How We Brought the Cotton-top Tamarin to Expo Maíz

A Festival Rooted in Tradition, Now Blossoming into Conservation

Every year, Baranoa, a vibrant town in Colombia’s Atlántico department, comes alive with the rhythms, flavors, and traditions of corn. Expo Maíz, now in its seventh edition, is more than a food festival — it’s a heartfelt tribute to the campesino families who cultivate this ancestral grain and a celebration of the culinary identity of the Colombian Caribbean. Over four days, from July 31 to August 3, farmers, traditional cooks, artisans, entrepreneurs, and visitors converge to honor the humble mazorca — corn on the cob — in all its cultural and gastronomic glory.

This year, however, Expo Maíz took on a new dimension. For the first time, conservation joined the celebration. Amid the smell of arepas roasting on clay griddles and the vibrant colors of maize-inspired crafts, a new message echoed through the festival grounds: the cotton-top tamarin — known locally as the tití cabeciblanco — is as Colombian as the corn we cherish. And like corn, it deserves to be celebrated, protected, and shared with pride.

Why Bring the Cotton-top Tamarin to a Corn Festival?

At Fundación Proyecto Tití, we’ve long believed that conservation must be rooted in culture. The cotton-top tamarin is a tiny, critically endangered primate found only in Colombia’s tropical dry forests — a habitat as unique and threatened as the species itself. Just as maize is integral to Colombian identity, the cotton-top tamarin is part of our natural heritage. When we learned about Expo Maíz — a festival already dedicated to celebrating community, agriculture, and tradition — we saw an opportunity to weave conservation into this cultural tapestry. By introducing the cotton-top tamarin at a space where families gather to honor their roots, we could spark curiosity, pride, and action. Our message was simple yet powerful: “Tití 100% colombiano, like you and me.”

Setting the Stage at Expo Maíz

The seventh edition of Expo Maíz promised record participation. Baranoa prepared to host thousands of visitors eager to taste corn-based delicacies, admire artisanal crafts, and participate in cultural events. Against this lively backdrop, we set up a booth that would become an unexpected favorite among festival-goers.

Colorful banners featured the bright white tufts of hair and expressive faces of cotton-top tamarins. Hand-painted signs declared, “No Son Mascotas” (They Are Not Pets) and “Protect Their Forest Home.” Volunteers wore t-shirts with the slogan “Tití 100% Colombiano,” linking the tamarin’s story to the national pride evoked by the festival.From day one, the stand buzzed with energy. Children tugged their parents over to see plush tamarins and activity tables. Adults paused to ask questions, many surprised to learn that this tiny primate lives just hours from their own homes — and even more surprised to hear it teeters on the brink of extinction.

Learning Through Play: Activities That Sparked Curiosity

We knew the key to connecting festival-goers with the cotton-top tamarin was interactivity. So rather than simply telling people about conservation, we invited them to participate in it.

Drawing Contest: The Tamarin’s True Home

Children picked up crayons and colored pencils to illustrate cotton-top tamarins running through the trees in the forest — a landscape of spiny trees, tangled lianas, and sunlit clearings. For many, it was the first time they had seen the tamarin’s habitat depicted so vividly. As they drew, the Proyecto Tití team shared that these animals belong in the wild, not in cages or as pets. The result was art filled with joy and a new understanding that “protecting is creating.”

Corn and Craft: Artisans Reimagine the Tamarin

Local artisans, already skilled in transforming corn husks, stalks, and fibers into beautiful crafts, took on a new challenge: create pieces inspired by the cotton-top tamarin. The results were extraordinary — tamarins woven from maize fibers, miniature sculptures combining kernels and threads, and jewelry that paired the festival’s signature grain with the tamarin’s iconic crest.

The deeper impact, however, came through their words. “When they gave me this challenge, I had to learn about the tamarin,” one artisan said. “I was shocked to find out it’s endangered. It’s not a pet or a toy — it’s a living being that needs our respect.” Another craftswoman from Luruaco shared, “I’ve followed the foundation’s work for years. It’s beautiful to see more people learning about the tamarin now — understanding why it must live free and how we can help.”

Games with Purpose: From Fun to Awareness

Two festival games stole the show: Champetitiando and Titi Twister — playful, high-energy activities where children and adults learned about the tamarin’s behavior and forest ecosystem while competing in friendly challenges. These games transformed abstract concepts — like habitat loss or pet trade — into something tangible and memorable.

Knowledge for Prizes: Ask and Answer

Throughout the event, we engaged visitors with quick questions about the tamarin: Where does it live? Why is it endangered? What can we do to help? Correct answers earned small educational prizes — stickers, bookmarks, and activity sheets — reinforcing what they learned and encouraging them to share it with friends and family.

Voices from the Community

One of the most moving moments came from community leader Jorge Sierra, who stood before a crowd at the festival and spoke from the heart:

“When we love God, we love His creations. The cotton-top tamarin also needs affection, respect, and humanity. Let us teach from home that animals are not objects — they are an essential part of our nature.”

His words resonated deeply. Families nodded, children listened intently, and conversations continued long after he stepped away. It was a reminder that conservation messages, when delivered in spaces of cultural pride, can feel both personal and profound.

A Celebration of Identity and Connection

The theme that wove together corn and cotton-top tamarins was identity. Just as maize is inseparable from Colombian cuisine and rural tradition, the tamarin is inseparable from Colombia’s natural heritage. Both are uniquely ours — found nowhere else in the world in quite the same way. By pairing them at Expo Maíz, we helped people see conservation not as something external or imposed, but as an extension of who they are. Protecting the tamarin became less about saving “an animal out there” and more about caring for “our tamarin, our forest, our story.”

Measuring Impact and Looking Ahead

The response exceeded our expectations. Hundreds of children participated in the drawing contest. Local artisans proudly displayed tamarin-inspired crafts, blending ecological awareness with cultural expression. Festival-goers left not only with full stomachs but with fuller hearts — and a newfound appreciation for the fragile beauty of Colombia’s tropical dry forest. Most importantly, conversations that began at our booth continued beyond the festival. Parents asked how they could visit the Fundación Proyecto Tití field site. Teachers requested educational materials for their classrooms. Community leaders explored partnerships to bring tamarin conservation into future cultural events. This ripple effect is exactly what we hoped for. Expo Maíz became the perfect launchpad for even more celebrations for the rest of August.

The Birth of the Month of the Cotton-top Tamarin

Building on the energy from Baranoa, we have launched a month-long campaign across Colombia dedicated to the cotton-top tamarin. Throughout August, schools, communities, and zoos will join in creative actions — from art projects, dances and festivals all celebrating cotton-top tamarins. These celebrations aren’t just about awareness; it was about ownership. The tamarin is not a distant symbol of biodiversity — it is a neighbor, a national treasure, and a call to action. By framing August as the Month of the Cotton-top Tamarin, we ensured the excitement of Expo Maíz would spark momentum rather than fade away.

Why This Matters

Conservation often struggles to compete with daily realities — economic challenges, urban development, shifting cultural priorities. But by embedding the cotton-top tamarin into cultural traditions like Expo Maíz, we create bridges rather than barriers. We remind people that caring for wildlife doesn’t mean abandoning culture; it means enriching it. The tamarin’s story mirrors that of maize: resilience amid change, nourishment for both body and spirit, and a thread connecting past, present, and future.

A Call to Celebrate and Protect

As we look back on this year’s Expo Maíz and forward to future festivals, our hope is simple: that more Colombians will see the cotton-top tamarin as theirs — not in ownership, but in responsibility and pride. Every drawing a child makes, every artisan’s creation, every conversation at a food stall builds a culture of conservation. Together, these moments form a movement — one that honors both the grain that feeds us and the forests that sustain us. Because the cotton-top tamarin is 100% Colombian… and so are we.