El Chaqueno Palavecino...

The main draw for the entire San Antonio Festival of the Dia de Tradicion was this most famous singer from the Province of Salta - Chaqueno Palavecino. Saturday night, after the non event of jineteadas and domas (equine competitions by gauchos) tiny Areco overflowed with visitors. Between locals and 'tourists' from other areas of Argentina, about 11.000 people filled the Parque Guiraldes, a large estancia now turned museum and park, to listen to their favourite folkloric singer.
Almost full moon, starry night, pleasant temperatures, and nary a drop of the forecasted rain, which never materialized.
Here Chaqueno sings his signature song about Law and Traps, which tells about the dangers of 'matrimonio' and 'bodas'...marriages and weddings.

Never mind great music, no Argentinean Fiesta is complete without a parilla, and an all out consumption of meat. Less of whole sides of beef on a rack, and more hot dog equivalents.

Almost like the Miracle of the Loafs and Fishes to help feed the multitudes, except here thousands of embutidos (bagged meat, i.e. sausages) sizzles away on long racks of glowing charcoal. Blood sausages, chorizos and various other editions of embutidos sell as quickly as they are done

Large cauldrons contain shredded onion, everything attended by local gauchos in outfits, which looks as if they just climbed off their horses

The night is light up by glowing coals and billowing clouds of parilla smoke

The under aged, this one around 8 or 9 years old, practise their boliche stance, i.e. their future macho way of leaning against a bar.

Dad, in the meantime shines in his Fiesta gear wish highly shined boots, white bombachas, poncho with Estancia colours, facon in his tirador,  and flat hat to top it all off with elegance and style

The bar is in full swing...authorities in Canada wold tear their hair out, as every Canadian liquor rule for dispensing of alcoholic beverages is soundly and happily broken. Vouchers are sold for cash (good for a cerveza, good for a bottle of tinto - wine - which by the way costs $4.50 Canadian). One lines up a a couple of rickety tables, hands over a voucher and receives the desired beverage together with the appropriate number of plastic cups. Kids and dogs are underfoot, and customers consume their refreshments wherever they stand or sit. The servants seem barely over  19 years of age, but they have the stamina to man the bar until the wee hours of the morning

In the meantime, the warm up bands for Chaqueno entertain the crowd. Some are seated in the open air 'pena folklorico' a fancy name for long lines of folding tables with chairs, where one may consume ones choripans (hot dogs) and wine in the company of happy celebrants. Up front, right under the stage is a space a large as a football field, where anyone so inclined can dance Chacarera or Zamba with their chosen partners, right on the grass. Complaints were heard, the the dance floor was 'too small' to comfortably accommodate the ones light of foot, of which there were hundreds.

Midnight...almost ready for the Great One. All the kids of course are still wide awake, great family outing - no need for baby sitters, who would probably refuse to baby-sit anyway - if these species of person exists at all - , as they would miss the long anticipated event.

Hanging out under the trees in the park, which is magically lit by fires, smoke and the odd electric light standard

The local municipality provides a few thousand stackable plastic chairs (with 'cultura' hand written on each seat back). All are filled, and the huge expanse of grassy field beyond the chairs is crowded to the edges of the park.

Finally, shortly after midnight, the crowd goes crazy, everyone stands up and screams and claps like a bunch of hysteric teenagers at a rock concert - except this time around the average age is probably somewhat higher than 21 years.
Chaqueno, no longer the unknown bus driver with a golden throat who sings in out of the way bars, sings with full BIG SHOW pomp and circumstance, and his well known large orchestra under flashing stage lights. It takes a while for every one to sit down again, and burst into thunderous applause after each well known song. Of course, some of the songs are so popular, that half the crowd sings along with Chaqueno.

Growing a little stouter each year, and a little more famous, he is a commanding stage figure, who transports his fans into dancing and hand clapping and singing - which he does extremely well.

Here to end on a 'high note' so to speak, is Chaqueno, singing the most romantic version of what could somewhat be called a 'One Night Stand'. For anyone who speaks Spanish, the subtitles tell the whole poetic edition of passion found and soon lost.

After the concert, the somewhat curious finale. Getting back to Hotel Draghi, all doors are locked - after all it is two in the 'madrugada' early morning. No problema, there is a key for both the outside and inside door. But, due to the challenging design of Argentinean keys and their corresponding locks, neither one of the keys opens either the back door, nor the garden portal.
What to do, but visit a 'private pena folklorico', a fiesta in the backyard of a local house. It was suggested by the hotel owner, that we are invited and visit. Backing a block down the night deserted street to the pena, which was stacked - with the REAL locals, who prefer their own version of poems put to guitar. Right there, under a few algarobles and ombu trees, with a few garden lights illuminating the park like garden, working people in gaucho gear, estancia owners, young girls, mothers with their still actively running around children, listened to everyday working gauchos singing stories of their daily life.
Not a stranger (to Areco) in sight. When questioned whether Hotel Draghi owners were around, a young woman took off into the depth of the semi dark garden and searched for Lucilla - who of course was nowhere to be found.
But, there was a certain pleasant surprise in being able to share with these local people their own private enjoyment of music...quietly, away from the madding crowd. A bottle of cerveza appeared out of now where - gratis. And after a couple of hours of 'intimate' folkloric concert, the same young women accompanied us to the hotel, and with a touch of magic and after a few tries, opened the garden portal. Just as well, climbing over the intimidating fence with my 'funny' knee would have been a thing to behold, if I would even have been able to execute such a feast.
Sunday, a day of rest, is already one quarter over, when I finally sink into bed, still with 'La Ley y La Trampa' floating through my head.