BICENTENARIO

BICENTENARIO
May 25, 1810 was the day of the revolution that brought about Argentina's independence of on July 9

Being the bicentennial of the revolution, there were activities for days leading up to May 25 - since 200 years don't come around too often, I did my best to experience it all.

More than 6 million people showed up for the 5 days of events!

Teatro Colón was getting ready for the inauguration after being closed for renovation for 4 years

El Obelisco

F 05/21/10 Concierto de Rock Argentino
We didn’t stay too long for the Argentine rock concert, as the artists were definitely of an older generation and the crowds were a bit unmanageable.

León Gieco

Sa 05/22/10 Desfile de Las Provincias
The parade of the provinces was interesting to see what each province decided to represent.  Unfortunately, we were standing near the end of the parade and all of the music and dancing occurred earlier, but it was shown on a big screen on the Obelisk.

Teatro Colón by day

everyone heading to the Obelisco

Argentine flair

the crowds

gaucho with his mate

no parade is complete without an apple and grapes

M 05/24/10 Inauguration of the Teatro Colón
After being closed for 4 years for renovations (and rather controversial ones at that), the iconic Teatro Colón re-opened for the bicentennial with an hour-long video projected on the façade depicting footage of past shows and interviews of singers, dancers, composers and directors who had performed in the theater.  There was a stage set up in front with dancers, but with the crowd of thousands of people, a majority couldn’t see (especially the shorter Argentines).

the crowds behind me

the crowds in front of me

scenes of events that had occurred in the Theater displayed on the facade

everyone singing the national anthem

The front of the theater from Tribunales was closed off for the 2,400 guests that were invited to see the first showing of La Boheme.

Tribunales - Court House

Avenida Corrientes - many main avenues were closed for pedestrians

M 05/24/10 El Otro Bicentenario
Many of the provinces participated in their own version of the bicentennial - rejecting the dependence that native populations still have on the urban areas.

a demonstration march

dancing chacarera

Flor dancing chacarera

A family of musicians performed - the son was 10 and daughter was 7 (they did need a bit more practice, though).

Congreso

Tu 05/25/10
Avenida Corrientes in the day

El Obelisco with a blue sky

Tu 05/25/10 Los Pabellones de las Provincias - The Stands of the Provinces
There were tents set up for all of the provinces to display highlights of their region.

Tu 05/25/10 El Paseo de los Sabores - The Walk of Flavors
Stands were set up with food from various cultures present in Argentina - French, Armenian, Chinese, Peruvian...)

Avenida de Mayo - Congreso

We had a little merienda (snack) break at La Clac Bar Restaurante.

Tu 05/25/10 Desfile de Mayo (May Parade)
El Desfile de Mayo (The May Parade) consisted of 19 floats that gave a chronology of Argentina's history and highlighted various aspects of the culture - constructed and performed by Fuerza Bruta.

the viewing stand set up off of Avenida de Mayo - we waited here from 7:00 pm (when the parade was supposed to start) until 9:00 pm

even though he had just arrived that morning from Córdoba on a 12 hour bus ride, Pato was a sport and accompanied me to the parade

the area in the middle was supposed to be cleared out for the floats, but there certainly wasn't any hurry

TV crew waiting to get a glimpse of the first float...but they would have a bit longer

We finally decided to walk in the direction of where the parade originated, and the first float rounded the corner at 9:30 pm.

the people in the balconies had the best seats

people in the trees

people on the scaffoldings

Official parade photos