It’s time to put on a sultry face and slide into a tight embrace on the dance floor at the Buenos Aires’ Tango Festival.
At this yearly tango festival, tango aficionados and international visitors enjoy live tango orchestras, dance shows and competitions, tango-related films, art exhibitions, and of course, milongas (dance parties), celebrating Argentina’s most famous dance.
The free two-week event is hailed as the world’s largest tango-related festival with 2,000 performers and nearly half a million visitors.
When
It is tentatively set for Wednesday, August 21until Sunday, September 1, 2024.
Where
The 2024 edition of the Tango Festival and World Cup will take place in 35 venues across the city and will continue to include virtual tango events.
This event is preceded by the citywide Buenos Aires Tango Championship from May 8-19 to find the best dancers in the city, who will go onto compete in August.
Bailongo in Buenos Aires
Although today considered one of the country’s most sophisticated cultural exports, tango was born at the end of the 19th century in the working-class portside neighborhood of La Boca.
An immigrant community of mostly struggling, single European men meant there was a dearth of women at the time.
Men danced with each other to practice for the day they might have the chance to seduce one of the few single ‘ladies of the night’ available, especially in the La Boca neighborhood and neighboring San Telmo.
Because of tango’s early association with crime, the outlaw language of lunfardo and poverty, upper-crust Argentines originally turned up their noses at the dance.
Once the sounds and moves of tango exploded in Europe in the early 20th century, wealthy and middle-class Argentines co-opted the once underground sound.
These more bourgeoisie tango aficionados began composing more purified tangos, bringing the sexy dance into their ballrooms.
Tango’s Most Recent Renaissance
Since the 1990’s tango has experienced a new renaissance in Buenos Aires and worldwide. UNESCO included tango on their Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2009.
Throughout the festival, there is a variety of open milongas allowing the public to dance to the live sounds of traditional tango orchestras, tangotronica DJs and tango-inspired fusión groups.
For serious students of tango, the nightly milongas around the city are the focus of the festival.
Among the living tango greats who have hit the stage at TangoBA are Saúl Cosentino with his avant-garde tango tunes akin to Piazolla: Bandoneon virtuoso, Julio Pane; and composer and the former bandoneonist for Alfredo Gobbi, Alberto Garralda.
Other performances include an homage to Grammy winner, Leopoldo Federico, who performed at last year’s Tango Festival and then died at 87 a few months later.
Another remarkable performance was a retrospective of the Russian tango of the 1920s and 30s performed by the Belamor Kanal Quartet.
Bringing more modern tango sounds are acts such as Cumbre de Contrabajista (Summit of Stand-up Bassists) and French composer, guitarist and singer, Brian Chambouleyron (on a double bill, with the aforementioned Alberto Garralda).
For those who dream to dance tango like they own the floor, the festival hosts dance classes and talks with the likes of local dance floor legends such as Milena Plebs, Sebastián Arce, María Nieves, Julio Balmaceda y Corina de la Rosa, Fernando Galera, Vilma Vega and 82-year-old Juan Carlos Copes.
Buenos Aires Citywide Competition: Preliminaries
The search for the world’s best tango dancers begins with the 20th edition of the citywide championship from May 8-19, 2024
After the best dancers in the city are chosen, they will go onto compete in August.
World Tango Competition
The festival culminates in the Tango World Cup in which the world’s best tangueros compete on stage for prestige and cash prizes. The two categories are Salon Tango and Stage Tango Competitions at Usina del Arte in the barrio that birthed the tango, La Boca.
All the activities and shows at the Tango Festival are free.
Tickets for Tango World Cup are first come, first serve, and will be given out at the Casa de Cultura, Av. de Mayo 575 or through the official website linked below.
There is a two-ticket limit per person.
For all other limited seating events, tickets are given out beginning two hours before the show.
To see a day-by-day breakdown of the Tango Festival events and the World Championship Dance competition see the Buenos Aires Culture Department’s official webpage.
Tango Festival & World Cup 2024
August 21-September 1, 2024
Buenos Aires Culture Department Festival Page
• Tel: . 0-800-333-7848 (Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-8p.m
→ While in Buenos Aires check out other tango tours and activities to learn the dance or visit the city’s milongas with a local.
→ Book safe airport transfer and reserve your accommodation online to save money — visitors get the 21% VAT tax back when they book online with a credit card.
→ See our suggestions, ‘What to Pack for Argentina.‘
Tango Festival Principal Venues
Downtown
•Luna Park
Av. Corrientes y Bouchard
• Tel: 5279-5279
• Bus: 4, 6, 20, 22, 23, 26, 28, 33, 45, 50, 54, 56, 61, 62, 74, 91, 93, 99, 105
• Subway: Línea B, L.N. Alem stop
•Teatro Colón
Cerrito 628
Bus: 5,9,10,17,24,26,45,59,67,70,75,99,100,106,132,146
Subte: Line D: Tribunales stop; Line B: Carlos Pellegrini stop; Line C: Diagonal Norte stop
•Teatro Astral
Av Corrientes 1639
Bus:5,6,7,23,24,26,37,50,60,102,115,124,146,150,180
Subte: Line D, Callao; Line B Uruguay stop or 9 de Julio; Line C Diagonal Norte
La Boca
• Usina del Arte
Av. Don Pedro de Mendoza 501 (corner of A. Caffarena)
Bus: 4, 8, 20, 25, 29, 33, 53, 64, 86, 129, 130, 152, 159, 168, 195
•Museo del Cine
Agustín Caffarena 51
Bus:4, 8, 20, 25, 29, 33, 46, 53, 64, 86, 129, 130, 152, 159, 168, 195
•Teatro de La Ribera/La Milonga del Dique
Av. Don Pedro de Mendoza 1821
Bus:8, 20, 25, 29, 33, 46, 53, 64, 86, 129, 152, 159
Caballito
•Espacio Cultural Adán Buenosayres
Av. Asamblea 1200
Almagro
La Catedral
Sarmiento 4006
•Espacio Cultural Julián Centeya
Ave. San Juan 3255
Villa Urquiza
•Teatro 25 de Mayo
Av Triunvirato 4444
Bus: 71, 112, 114, 127, 133, 176
Subte: Line B, Echeverría Stop
