The fact that May 25 falls on a Monday this year will add a day to the weekly program of the Mataderos Fair, which during the winter months takes place every Sunday in the eponymous Buenos Aires neighborhood. The Fair has been bringing Argentine folk music and dancing, regional food and crafts, and gaucho skills to town for the benefit of city slickers and residents from the provinces for the past 20 years.
On May 24 “El Patio de Vitillo Ábalos”, the group of singer-musicians led by the last surviving member of the legendary Ábalos brothers quintet from Santiago del Estero, will head the fair’s music and dance list. Vitillo, 87, acts as master of ceremonies for the songs he sings with Raúl Canteros, Andrés Pilar, and Valentín Chocobar, and dances as well with Elvirita Agurrebarrena. On May 25, the list will be headed by famed charango player Jaime Torres.
Other activities, in addition to the gaucho ring races that are the fair’s other classic entertainment, will include a 19th-century pericón dance, and a demonstration of pato, Argentina’s native equestrian game. The fair is open at Av. Lisandro de la Torre and Av. De los Corrales from 11am to 8pm. Admission is free.