Last weekend, myself and ten other volunteers rented a mini-van to venture from our temporary homes in Córdoba to the province of Entre Rio to experience the grand spectacular Carnival parade, the largest such event in Argentina. Stocked up with our favorite local Bon o Bon chocolates and other traditional road trip foods, we headed east towards Gualeguaychú, a city near the Uruguay border. I went to the event hoping to enjoy a large carnival celebration, and not only did I have a good time, but it also gave me an opportunity to learn a few new words and see what was on the mind of the local community.
After a few adventures searching for the correct highways to our destination, we arrived and headed directly to the corsódromo (carnival runway) to buy our tickets and prepare for the night. For more than four hours, we watched dancers and huge floats parade past in incredible colorful costumes (or lack thereof!) in coordinated patches of feathers and sequins, which kept the crowd of young and old cheering until well after 2 o’clock in the morning.
Parts of the spectacle – chants from the crowd, festival songs (of which there were about three, repeated for hours on end), the addition of political commentary mixed into the party – reminded me of the Fasching parades I attended in Mainz, Germany a few years ago.
Some entrants, including a group of dancers dressed in hulking red, white and blue body suits with arms dangling to the floor, poked fun at the U.S. Stuffed monkeys with a world globe balanced in their feet stood on top of the dancers’ heads.
The parade also included banners and marchers stating the Argentine perspective on a dispute regarding the creation of papelerias (paper mills) along the river dividing Uruguay and Argentina border. Gualeguaychú declined to approve development of factories due to environmental concerns, but the factories were approved on the other side of the river in Uruguay, creating unhappy feelings both locally and internationally between these neighboring countries.
Many of the party-goers came from different provinces in Argentina, so I really enjoyed sharing our perspective on life in Gualeguaychú. And like most travel experiences, we came home with many stories to share with others.
For more about carnival in other Latin American countries, check out this post about carnival in Colombia by fellow La Vida Idealist blogger, Rob Packer.
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Your pictures and narrative bring me right into the experience, thank you for sharing! The carnival can be a time of uninhibited celebration but you brought out the nuances of culture and even political commentary that remind me how organic and complex these celebratory expressions can be. Looking deeply through the festive music and colorful costumes are the real people and real lives, real concerns of the city/region. And one real concern at the moment is the safety and welfare of the Argentinans who might have felt the 6.6 aftershock of the larger earthquake off the Chilean coast. This reminds me of how travelers are some of the most vulnerable population during times of crisis and disaster. Take care, Mia, hope you and your La Vida Idealist colleagues are well, please let us know how you are doing. We miss you.