Ciudad Emergente: Buenos Aires' Underground Culture Festival

Ciudad Emergente (Emerging City), a festival dedicated to underground art and music, is quickly becoming one of Buenos Aires’ most anticipated yearly events for teens and 20-somethings.

Since 2008 the city’s culture department has hosted this free festival to promote youth culture and explore new trends emerging in the world of music, film, art, dance, fashion and in more recent years, stand-up comedy and skate exhibitions.

The sprawling Usina del Arte is the newest setting for this festival which used to be held in Recoleta but now has more an ’emerging’ energy in the up-and-coming neighborhood of La Boca.

The festival hosts dozens of live national and international bands, a variety of DJ and VJ performances and art exhibitions, including demonstrations of Buenos Aires’ famous street art.

Visitors can also browse magazines, download free music and see a series of documentaries put together by the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (BAFICI). Ciudad Emergente now pulls over 300,000 yearly visitors and the festival’s surprise appearances are highly anticipated.

Travelers over 25 have no need to worry about feeling out of place – in Buenos Aires you’re allowed to consider yourself ‘young’ until well into middle age.