Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
30
de la Raza), D ecember 8 (I mmaculate
Conception D ay), and D ecember 25
(Christmas). Christmas, ho wever, is usu-
ally celebrated on D ecember 24, and
called N oche B uena. M any stor es and
other services close this day.
FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS
S ev-
eral holidays and festiv als are worth plan-
ning a trip ar ound; the best place to get
information for these ev ents is thr ough
your local Argentine tourism office (see
“Visitor Information,” earlier in this chap-
ter).
Carnaval (M ardi G ras),
the w eek
before the star t of Lent, is celebrated in
many to wns in Argentina, although to a
much lesser extent than in neighboring
Brazil. The main area for this is in G uale-
guaychú, about 3 hours nor th of B uenos
Aires in Entre Rios Province. In Salta, citi-
zens throw a large parade, including cari-
catures of public officials and “ water
bomb” fights. The
Gaucho Parade
takes
place in S alta on J une 16, with music b y
folk ar tists and gauchos dr essed in tradi-
tional r ed ponchos with black stripes,
leather chaps, black boots, belts, and
And the
Fiesta P rovincial del Turismo
(Provincial Tourist Festival)
takes place
in December in Puerto Iguazú.
The Buenos Aires version of Carnav al,
or Mardi Gras, is called
Fiesta de las Mur-
gas,
and though it 's not as color ful as Rio
de Janeiro's or even the one in Gualeguay-
chú, it is celebrated ev ery w eekend in
February. Various neighborhoods hav e
costumed street-band competitions full of
loud music, drums, and dancing. Contact
the Buenos Aires tourism office (www.bue.
gov.ar) for more information.
The
World Tango Festival
is celebrated
in early to mid-O ctober, with v arious
events, many concentrated in the tango
neighborhood of S an Telmo. S ee www .
worldtangofestival.com.ar for mor e infor-
mation and exact dates.
The world 's biggest polo ev ent, the
Argentine Open Polo Championships,
is
held in the polo grounds in Palermo, near
the Las Cañitas neighborhood, generally
in late N ovember, attracting money ed
crowds from around the world who get to
mingle with visiting B ritish r oyalty. Visit
their website, www.aapolo.com.
The
National Gay Pride
parade is held
in N ovember, and can switch at the last
minute from the first Saturday to the third
Saturday of the month, so check Comuni-
dad Homosexual de Argentina's website, at
www.cha.org.ar, for updated information.
Some big regional parties include
Octo-
berfest,
in Villa Belgrano, Córdoba, every
second weekend of October and
Mendoza
Wine H arvest F estival
ev ery first w eek-
end in March.
Though Argentina has little in the way
of Christmas ritual,
midnight M ass on
Christmas E ve (N oche B uena),
at the
Metropolitan Cathedral, is a beautiful
3
knives. F or mor e gaucho madness, visit
the city of S an Antonio de Ar eco, about
1
1
/
2
hours fr om B uenos Air es.
Día de la
Tradición
is generally celebrated ar ound
November 10, when gauchos and the
tourists who love them flock to the pictur-
esque town.
Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun)
takes
place in to wns throughout the Northwest
the night before the summer solstice (June
20) to giv e thanks for the y ear's har vest.
Día de I ndependencia (I ndependence
Day)
is celebrated in Tucumán on July 9.
Exodo Jujeño (Jujuy Exodus)
takes place
August 23 and 24, when locals reenact the
exodus of 1812. The
Batalla de Tucumán
(Battle of Tucumán)
celebrates Belgrano's
victory over the Spanish on September 24.
spectacle. I t is usually held at 10pm on
December 24.
