attractions Throughout the city a tourist might enjoy the scattered city monuments, especially around the edges of the Magdalena River, where the local government has been maintaining the recently built sanctuary meant to safeguard the Magdalena from any pollutants and human produced contamination. Around this sanctuary there are parks and gardens usually crowded by locals and tourists who came to the growing city. The city can be reached by road travel, or by all major national airlines, coming to the Benito Salas Airport. Education Neiva is home to several universities which serve primarily Southern Colombia. Among the most important are the Universidad Surcolombiana, the Corporación Universitaria del Huila, and the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. Transport Air transportation The Benito Salas Airport, named after Benito Salas Vargas, is located inside the city and serves domestic destinations. Culture The city is known as the Bambuco capital. José Eustasio Rivera, born in Rivera, is the most famous writer of a "pléyade" of creators that lived in Neiva (Regulo Suárez, Eustaquio Álvarez, Felio Andrade, Antonio Iriarte, Yezid Morales, Humberto Calderón, Jorge Guebelly, Luis Alberto Campos, Winston Morales, Jader Rivera, David Alberto Campos) Festivals and events This city is known for the Festival Folclórico y Reinado Nacional del Bambuco festivities held between the last two weeks of June and early July. During this time, there are daily parades through the downtown area and showings of the Sanjuanero, a folk dance, where the participants dress in a typical costumes and compete for being the best performers of the Sanjuanero choreography. Sports Soccer is currently the most popular sport in the city. The city is the base for the Atlético Huila club which competes in the top division of the Colombian professional football (soccer) league, the Categoría Primera A. The games are played at the Guillermo Plazas Alcid Stadium. Basketball had historically a high popularity, although it has decreased in recent years. The cities Basketball games are played at the Coliseo Álvaro Sánchez Silva court. The city has hosted important national and international sport events. For example: XI National Games of Colombia 1980 Juvenile Finswimming World Championship 2008 South American Basketball Championship 2010 FIBA Americas Championship for Women 2011 The city of Neiva was one of the host cities for the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup. Sister cities Kungsbacka, Sweden Cadiz, Spain Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Los Angeles, United States Milan, Italy Bogotá, Colombia Lyon, France Malmö,