7. Feria de Mataderos Guided Tour with Lunch
This tour, apart from being the symbol of rural tradition in Buenos Aires City, transports us to the gaucho culture, the emblematic character of Argentinean history. This fair was born 20 years ago in the area where the old slaughterhouses of the city were located, and is today the meeting point for people from the interior of our country who are deeply-rooted to their costumes of their provinces and for those who, living in this city, like to spend a while surrounded of handcrafts, typical foods and folkloric music and dances. Also, the neighborhood was declared, in 1991, as “neighborhood of the Argentinean Gaucho”.
We begin the tour near midday at your hotel and we drive to the fair. There you will have some minutes at your own disposal to visit the old archway of the market and then we will visit the “Museo Criollo de los Corrales”. This museum is a big sample of rural objects and will give us an idea of how gauchos lived in the Pampas, through clothing, tools and everyday objects. It will also show us how in our country the stockbreeding industry started to develop, from the period when Indians ruled the pampas until Argentina became in one of the main exporter and a world leader in meats. We’ll see on the following rooms weapons, knives, carriages, animals, paintings and even the famous “quincho” or “ranch”, the meeting point for the countryside meals.
Later we’ll go to lunch to the fair stalls. We’ll taste some typical foods as empanadas for lunch accompanied by a drink included in the tour. After that you will have more time to visit the stalls where we will find, apart from the handcrafts mentioned above, sweets, instruments, albums, clothes, accessories and more objects of everyday use.
We will continue visiting the stands of handicrafts: accessories, everyday objects and musical instruments. Both the products and the regional food (jams, liquors, alfajores, cheeses) are available at a much cheaper price than in other places in the city of Buenos Aires.
The gastronomy and handicrafts of the Mataderos Fair are perfectly complemented by the music and folkloric dances that take place in the place, since the Fair is also known for its art festivals and demonstrations of gaucho skills. On special occasions, you can watch horse races and even participate in tango lessons!