August festivals (part 3)
On today’s look at August festivals, at first we’ll dance the tango, and then we’ll get pelted with red, squishy fruit.
Festival de Tango – Buenos Aires, Argentina
The city of Buenos Aires and tango are inseparable as a pair of tango dancers actually. The Argentine capital stages an annual festival to celebrate this sultry and mysterious dance with its sounds and movements spreading out across the city.
A plethora of dancers and musicians perform their ‘magic’ at various intimate venues and some of the best tanguistas from around the globe converge on Buenos Aires for this event, so there are fewer better chances than this to see them at their best.
There are of course free classes offered for beginners throughout the massive ten-day festival – which takes place during the second half of the month – thousands of people stumbling through their first tango steps in studios all across the capital.
There are also classes for more advanced dancers, but for those you will have to register before-hand.
La Tomatina – Bunol, Valencia, Spain
On the last Wednesday in August, get ready to get pelted and pelt others with tomatoes. The small town of Bunol dissolves for one morning into a sea of tomato pulp, a lot of tomato pulp.
About 140 tonnes of the squishy red fruits are trucked in for the running battle which tends to be concentrated around Plaza del Pueblo attracting somewhere around 30,000 visitors.
Those planning to participate will need a few essentials, goggles for instance and you might not want to bring your camera with you because these are seen as invitations to pelt the owner. The ladies should also be aware that a we t-shirt competition is an unofficial part of the day as well, you have to keep in mind that tomatoes are filled with liquid and once the ‘riot’ ends fire trucks hose down the participants and the streets so you’ll get very-very wet.
