COAS Nations' Fair

During the week of November 22 to 30, 2014, the COAS Nations' Fair took place in the Blue Pavilion of La Rural. At my insistence, my wife and I went to visit it. Many years ago, on one occasion, I had attended a "Nations' Fair" and had fond memories of it, so I thought visiting it might prove interesting.

The fair was organized by COAS. What is COAS? Cooperadora de Acción Social (Social Action Cooperation). It is a civil association dedicated to generating aid for Public Hospitals. One can learn more by visiting their webpage http://www.coas.org.ar/

General Admission cost 60 pesos. If I look at it in terms of what the fair was, it was a waste of money that wasn't worth paying. If I look at it in light of what the ticket says—"Entirely to benefit Public Hospitals"—then I don't mind paying the 60 pesos, as they will ultimately be well spent/paid.

The fair opened at 2:00 PM and ran until 9:00 PM; on weekends it opened at 1:00 PM. We arrived around 5:00 PM and it was quite crowded. The ticket booths—small portable booths—numbered four: two for card payments and two for cash payments. Card payments gathered most of the incoming crowd, making that line much longer.

There were several signs promoting the fair, as well as posters and other types of advertising, such as fabric wrapped around the nearby trees. The sign in the photograph was located right above the entrance. Looking at it, the logo is formed by a heart whose outline is a continuation of flags, allowing us to identify the flags of Chile, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Holland, Australia, Pakistan, the UK, Belgium, the US, France, China, and Venezuela.

On the COAS website itself, it reads verbatim: "The Fair, as is traditional, presents a list of participating countries featuring the best of their respective commercial, artisanal, and cultural output: Germany, China, Spain, Great Britain, India, Italy, Vietnam, among others."

Apparently, they equate Nation with Country. In my view, there are far more nations than countries; these nations (or national groups) are included in one way or another within certain countries and, for whatever reason, have not achieved independence.

Be that as it may, there are around 200 recognized countries in the world, and if we count nations, the list becomes even longer.

It is logical that the fair wasn't going to host stands from every single existing nation, but I at least expected to find—at a high estimate—20 nations; if I went by the logo with flags, around 13 or 14; and if I followed what was published on the webpage, about 7 nations, or at least 7 along with the Argentine stands.

Truth be told, after walking through the whole place, we found practically nothing: one stand with typical Chinese products and one or two with typical Arab products, and then nothing else. Where were the other Nations? They simply weren't there; disappointing.

Right upon entering, you came across a City government health station where they took the blood pressure of anyone interested; there were only senior citizens.

Then came several booths containing homeware products, footwear, handbags, etc., all bearing signs like Free Shop, 4x3, 3x2, etc. People were standing in long lines to get inside, wrapping almost all the way around the booths.

After that came many stands from well-known and not-so-well-known clothing brands. Almost everything was textiles and leather goods—shoes and handbags. It could very well have been called a Clothing Fair without misleading anyone.

There were a few regional Argentine stands—for example, from the provinces of Salta and Santiago del Estero, and from a few towns in the province of Córdoba that I recall seeing.

There was a single book stand selling books for 75 pesos that can be bought for 50 pesos in the bookstores along Corrientes Avenue.

The same went for much of the clothing on sale: some garments that go for 90 pesos in shops along Santa Fe Avenue were offered at the fair for 199 pesos.

I could go on with other products whose origin or cheaper sales locations I could easily identify. Disproportionate.

Moreover, all the clothing was very ordinary. Being called a "Nations' Fair," I imagined finding products and/or clothing foreign to us, typical of other countries, but that was not the case; the more you walked around, the more you ran into clichés.

People didn't seem to care at all; you could see them making plenty of purchases, many carrying bags filled with items.

A man at an Argentine homeware stand was inquiring about the high price of a knife, and the seller told him, "But it's imported from Germany." By that logic, any fair could be labeled "of the Nations"—it's full of imported products. In some historical periods there are more, in others fewer, but since trade has existed, imports/exports have existed. At the very least, they could have fitted out a booth with all products originating from a specific country, but not even that.

Then there was an entire sector dedicated to food products, and the same thing repeated itself: the vast majority were domestic products—cured meats, cheeses, jams, oils, dried fruits, etc. It feels to me like they are the same stands that participate in the Exposición Rural, then Caminos y Sabores, now the Feria de las Naciones, and tomorrow the Crafts Fair. What I mean is that I didn't see stands featuring food unique to other nations. Is that bad? Partly yes, partly no. Featuring Argentine domestic products strikes me as very good, but what about the rest of the nations? Nothing, there was nothing. That is wrong; if they promote and market the fair as "of the nations," they should offer something from other nations. But that wasn't the case.

At the entrance of the fair, a stage had been set up. Perhaps that was the best part of it from my perspective. They offered dance performances, with a few chairs and most people standing, both those coming in and those leaving. And it was located outside the fair itself. At the moment we walked by, they were performing Arab dances; we were able to watch three dances, including a group of six dancers, and then a solo performance. Next to us was a woman with a little girl, and the girl said to her, "But it's the teacher who's dancing!"

I don't know if there was a schedule of events, if there was a variety of dances, or if it was strictly Arab dances.

Conclusion: This fair left a lot to be desired. It is comforting to know that the money raised from admission tickets will go toward equipment for Public Hospitals; in the end, people will benefit from them regarding their health. However, walking through it and what was offered inside turned out to be a disappointment.