There was a time when Buenos Aires was rural. Before the great city we know, before the Latin American metropolis existed a small humble village with cobbled streets, kerosene lights and adobe houses that lived from livestock breeding. During the XIX Century, Buenos Aires was a vast land full of agricultural farmhouses, inhabited by horse-riding gauchos, pulperías (traditional liquor bars) and country heroic deeds.
Back then, many of the people worked for the slaughterhouses. The Slaughterhouse (besides inspiring the first work of Argentine literature, a story named “El Matadero” -The Slaughterhouse- by Esteban Echeverría) was a symbol of everyday life. Today, 150 years later, a neighborhood called Mataderos (where the slaughterhouse still works) preserves in its Main Square a handicraft and popular tradition fair that relives that old rural Buenos Aires.
Since 1986, by the initiative of its actual coordinator Sara Vinocur, this fair settled in Mataderos with the objective of creating a permanent space for production and spreading of our traditional cultural roots. 24 years of working continuously have gathered here all the regions and small towns of Argentina through their rich cultural expressions and unique distinctive habits.Besides the historical and architectural appeal (near is the Recova del Mercado that houses the Criollo Museum, historical monument from 1890), there are three basic areas to visit: the Traditional Handicraft area, the Artistic and Gaucho Skill Festival (traditional competitions on horses), and the Dance and Food area (including the famous Argentine empanadas and traditional folkloric dances).
The Fair opens on weekends at noon, in the Square located on the corner of Lisandro de la Torre Av. and De Los Corrales Av. You can get there by the buses number: 36, 55, 63, 80, 92, 97, 103, 117, 126, 141, 155, 180 y 185; o by taxi (it will cost you something like US$ 10 from Hostel Colonial, Downtown). For more information, visit the fair’s website by clicking here.
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