The Gaucho Parade

An extremely popular event for many of the ranch areas of Argentina, the Día de la Tradición (Day of the Gaucho) takes place largely in Las Pampas. Special events take place in the country town of San Antonio de Areco, running up to and on 10 November every year.

Despite Argentina's deep cultural history of European immigration, the gaucho (Argentine cowboy) has long been a national cultural symbol. During the mid-19th century, a clash of cultures between gauchos and European settlers meant the former were slow to find employment with the new estancieros (landowners). However, gaucho skills were indispensable when it came to tending to the roaming herds of cattle on the plains of Argentina, once a mainstay of the national economy.

The gaucho is also famous for his resilience, dexterity and - more unusually - his singing and dancing. With growing urbanisation around the turn of the century, the gaucho came to cohabit with the European immigrant in the slums of Buenos Aires. With him he brought the milonga, a melancholic folkloric song and the payada, a fast and furious dance where opponents attempt to 'out do' each other with fancy footwork. Both are folkloric traditions that contributed to the birth of the tango.

A visit to the Gaucho Festival at Santiago del Areco on the days leading up to and after 10 November, will reveal some of these great cultural traditions behind the gaucho, and much of Argentina. Highlights include horse parades, dance, song and the most exquisite meat. Do not miss a chance to see the dextrous footsteps of the payada - spurs, sparks and all!

If you have not already had the privilege of sampling an asado (barbecue), then do so immediately! In the mid-19th century, the English imports, the Aberdeen Angus and Herefordshire bull, helped transform the Argentine herds to yield probably the best beef in the world. Just some of the choice cuts you will be sampling range from bife de asado (rump steak), morcilla (black pudding), bife de lomo (fillet steak), churrasco, (grilled steak), or if you are feeling really brave then ask for the parillada mixta, a mixed grill featuring obscurities such as chinchulín (intestine) and the most sumptuous of sweetmeats. Of course, a healthy lifestyle in the Pampas means that Argentine beef is probably the safest in the world, as well as being the best.