Monday, February 19, 2007

Healthy Art at Plaza Francia, Buenos Aires, Argentina: Entertainment and Art in the Open

Acrobats, magicians, drummers and jugglers transform Plaza Francia of Buenos Aires into a circus in the open every weekend. This way, they add a new entertaining dimension to the well known Artisans’ Fair that started in 1970 at the Plaza.

For years, families with children, tourists and groups of friends have visited this plaza after lunch to curiously zigzag through the different stands of the fair.

After buying a couple of wooden and seed necklaces and incense sticks, discovering wooden planes with unusual mechanisms that turn its propellers when they lay against something, or trying on silver bracelets adorned with Argentina’s national rock (rodocrosita), many choose to stay at the park to enjoy the various shows as they drink mate.

Shows are as varied as people’s tastes:

On top of the hill, very close to Cementerio de Recoleta, you can usually find a guitarist that signs the song you ask for, fo a couple of coins.

A little bit further down, a group of young comics improvise to hip-hop music, while other artists entertain the younger ones with puppet shows, while acrobats leave their audience without words with their mortal jumps.

You can breathe art and happiness in every corner of the plaza, converting the place into a pleasant place where you can retreat to enjoy the warm Spring sun.

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