Brotherhood Festival - Tribute to Immigrants

Today, December 3rd, 2006, I went to the Brotherhood Festival – Tribute to Immigrants, which takes place in the sector of the city where the Planetarium is located. It is organized by the General Directorate of Communities of the City of Buenos Aires. This festival had already been organized in 2004 and had an attendance of 60,000 people, according to what they state on this website: http://www.radiojai.com.ar/online/notiDetalle.asp?id_Noticia=25689

Since the place is close enough to where I live, I walked there; just a few blocks and I was already at the venue. I missed the first day, which featured a parade of communities. The Festival lasted two days. It started at ten in the morning and ended at eleven at night. As I was arriving, I could already see a lot of people heading to the area; on weekends, the Palermo Woods are very busy.

The first thing I encountered was a stage being set up—quite large—which I later learned was for the concert that same night. It caught my attention, so I took a photo of it. At night, I saw on TV that there were more than 100,000 people at that spot for an opera concert; that was the reason for that stage. The concert was called Amadeus A Cielo Abierto 3 (Amadeus Open Air 3); I didn't know it was its third edition, serving as the closing grand finale of the international Mozart Year. It was held in front of the Monumento de los Españoles, at the intersection of Av. Sarmiento and Av. del Libertador, in the Palermo Woods. The concert brought together more than 100,000 people to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth (1756). It was hosted by FM 103.7 Amadeus. It started around 8:00 PM, and a hundred artists performed on the huge stage measuring 20 meters wide by 18 meters deep, as reported in the article by La Nación newspaper, whose direct link is http://www.lanacion.com.ar/864618
Crossing the next square, where the Rose Garden (Rosedal) is located, you reached the Planetarium Square, which is where the Brotherhood Festival was taking place. Brotherhood Festival is the name given to the fair held in honor of immigrants. The Fair consisted of a number of stalls representing many communities.

The ones I remember that seemed to occupy the largest number of stalls were the Peruvians, the Mexicans, and the Paraguayans. What I saw the most was the sale of food—mostly traditional food from each represented country. Next came the sale of handicrafts and clothing. There was something that practically all the stalls had: meat served in a sort of dough pocket open at one end. It seemed to be all the rage: meat rotating and cooking while someone shaved off small slices using large blades, stuffing them inside a dough that looked like an empanada crust. The meat was attached to a rotating vertical skewer—a sort of giant brochette that I used to associate with Middle Eastern food, although here at the fair, there was one of these at many stalls across various communities.

There were quite a few stalls, some police officers, ambulances, a fire truck, and a few people who were likely dehydrated, which I attribute to the heat and the very little to no shade available.

When I arrived, I saw another stage also being prepared, and I walked all around. One downside was the limited space to walk; when I arrived, there were already people, and after walking around for no less than two hours, it was packed—in some spots, it was impossible to move.

I finished walking around the whole area, reached the end, and stepped out onto the grass to walk back. There, I saw yet another stage—the third one—and there was a performance going on. A few people were sitting on the grass watching, so I set myself up back there and stayed to watch.

The group dancing with live music was the Banda Comunitaria de la Universidad Indígena (Community Band of the Indigenous University). They were followed by the Familia Diaguita with their rain dance; they told us all their names in Diaguita along with their meanings—one I remember was Agua Gris (Gray Water). Then they spoke about their demands and struggles, how they are trying to preserve the Diaguita language so it doesn't get lost. Finally, the Aymará played, and they also spoke a bit about colonization and indigenous suffering.

This group I managed to see represented the Native Communities segment.

Next up were the Italians. First, a singer sang a song—a bit boring for my taste, so I walked around for a bit and came back. I don't remember what song it was, but it had no musical accompaniment; it was a cappella. Then, two groups alternated dances: the elderly and the youth. The youth were kids, likely high school students, who danced two very well-known tarantellas. The elderly performed two other dances, which were almost certainly not tarantellas.

I watched the Italian segment in its entirety. A lot of people gathered compared to the previous segment of the Native Communities. I can't say the exact reason, but I'd guess it's because Italian immigration was the largest migratory movement Argentina ever received. Also, by that time, the crowd had grown significantly compared to when I first arrived at the venue.

Next were the Brazilians and the Uruguayans. They seemed to be together; I didn't watch much, just a bit at the beginning, and then I left.

Apparently, everything indicated it was going to be like that all afternoon and until nightfall: a continuous showcase of communities, each presenting some kind of performance. I noticed more groups preparing—possibly Germans, and some Arabs—or at least that's what I gathered from their traditional costumes, though I didn't get a chance to look at them closely.

By around three in the afternoon, I was already heading back. It would have been nice to stay and see the rest of the groups, but I had to return. If not for that, I would have stayed, as I was enjoying it. The day was beautiful, and I felt good watching those traditional dances from other communities that you don't get to see every day.

I found the following photos funny: one of the gentleman holding a spear—not to mock him, but because he wasn't dressed like the others—and the second one of the clown on stilts (there were two of them) entertaining the little kids with a multicolored umbrella.

The following is the official advertisement from the City Government regarding the festival, taken directly from their website:

Brotherhood Festival

Planetarium - December 2 and 3, 2006

Tribute to Immigrants

Asia, Africa, Europe, and America united in a celebration featuring traditional dishes, music, dance, and the joy of sharing a deep brotherhood rooted in diverse heritage.
For two days at the Planetarium, the communities of the City of Buenos Aires will display all their customs, roots, colors, and how these are expressed in their new generations across various stalls. There will be 300 stalls with traditional food and handcrafted goods, along with clowns, puppeteers, stilt walkers, and jugglers throughout the venue. Two stages. Daytime shows featuring music and dance from 25 countries. On Saturday, there will be a parade of all communities featuring traditional costumes and native instruments.

And for the closing event, a special gift from Argentina to all immigrants featuring performances by Likembé, Tanghetto, and Suna Rocha on Saturday, and La Magnética, La Bomba de Tiempo, and El Chango Spasiuk on Sunday.

Schedule
It will take place on December 2 and 3 at the Planetarium, from 10 AM to 11 PM.

Participating countries: Ecuador, China, Brazil, Greece, Germany, Senegal, Spain, Israel, Ireland, Peru, Lebanon, Colombia, Native Peoples, Italy, Uruguay, Japan, Egypt, Poland, Chile, Ukraine, Paraguay, Russia, Bolivia, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, India, Iraq, Austria, Croatia, Romani people (Gypsies), Romania.