Some of you may remember the romantic comedy “Hitch,” starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes, which tells the story of an expert matchmaker, a sort of modern-day Cupid in New York, who can get even the most ordinary guy a date with the woman of his dreams.
However, even though we’re not in New York, here in Quillami, in 2026, some places are venturing into this kind of concept: events for singles to meet, whether for friendship or romance, that’s up to the attendees to decide.
To learn more about this, we spoke with Mateo*, a 25-year-old veterinarian and single guy from Barranquilla, who saw the ad on social media and decided to attend an event.
“I found out about the event because it came up in an Instagram post, and I noticed it was something new in the city, so I decided to give it a try to meet other people,” he said.
In our Caribbean culture, in particular, we’re not used to this kind of “get-together,” so we asked our adventurer his thoughts on the experience:
“At first, it felt a little awkward because I was one of the first ones to arrive, the early bird or something like that,” he said with a laugh. “There was another girl there, and when I saw her, I sat on the other side of the bar; I didn’t want to talk yet. Then, the hostess brought us together so we could start talking, she gave us some little cards as an icebreaker, and a few minutes later the rest of the attendees arrived,” he explained.
He added: “On the coast, this kind of event isn’t very common, because it’s a city where ‘everyone knows everyone,’ and it’s very normal for your partner to end up being a friend’s cousin or an aunt’s goddaughter, there are always connections. It’s very rare to find a partner here because you met them on your own, rather than because you have mutual acquaintances in your social circle. I feel that’s why it’s very hard for someone in Barranquilla, or even in any city in Colombia, to say that they met the love of their life on a blind date.”
Of course, we also talked about the pros and cons of this experience:
The pros: I liked that not everyone went with the intention of finding a partner, so it’s an opportunity to make new friends. I thought the atmosphere was chill.
The cons: I didn’t like that they didn’t know how to handle the activities designed to get people talking to each other. The organizers lacked the initiative to help us break the ice, and that’s exactly why most of us were there; we needed guidance or that impulse to work up the courage to talk to someone else.
Suggestions: I would recommend that, for other events, they should specify the age range, because for this one I went to, it said that only men and women 21 years and older could attend. Personally, I would have preferred a more specific age range, for example, 21 to 30, rather than what happened here, where the youngest person was 21 but there were people in their late 30s.
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I understand that society is becoming more open to big age gaps every day, but I think that an age range helps people find others with similar tastes and on the same wavelength.
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Although the event was safe, I think it would be good to have screening criteria for selecting participants’ profiles. I say this because, personally, I wasn’t asked anything out of the ordinary. All you had to do was pay the fee to attend, so maybe that’s where they fall short: we can see people’s faces, but we don’t know about their mental health issues.
Although Mateo didn’t find his match with Cupid, he felt comfortable despite his shyness, and he met a new friend with whom he has a lot in common:
“I didn’t go with the intention of finding a partner right away, nor did I think that if it didn’t work out, it would be a failure. I just saw it as an opportunity to meet new people, because couples can also form after being friends for a while, so I didn’t get frustrated about it. The important thing is that I met some cool people and we agreed to hang out again. For me, it definitely worked,” he says.
Our guest left us with a series of recommendations:
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You should go into these kinds of events with a relaxed mindset, because if you go in thinking you’re going to leave with a partner or potential dates, you might ruin the experience for yourself.
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It’s a good exercise, but there isn’t enough time to get to know someone and say “I like them, and we should be a couple.”
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You should go on your own, not with someone you already know, because the whole point is to open up and expand your social circle.
Thanks to Mateo’s experience, we discovered that there are other ways to find friends, or maybe even the love of your life. Of course, you have to keep an open mind and be bold #sinrecato, but I also recommend checking out who’s planning to attend; look at their social media, Google them, etc. You never know if, in the worst-case scenario, you might be sitting next to a serial killer or maybe even a Christian Grey.
Traducción del español: Catalina Oviedo Brugés
