Since many years ago the city of Medellin has been interested in tango and every day increases the interest of people, Interest has increased so much that people have made tango part of the festival of flowers. But, all of this has a history and a beginning, and to talk about this we are going to focus on Carlos Gardel and The International Tango Festival (that is the main tango event in Medellin, but it is not part of the flowers festival).
Carlos Gardel was a famous tango singer, and the most representative person of that musical genre. All the history and evolution of tango in Medellin begins with the death of Gardel in a plane crash at the Olaya Herrera airport in Medellin on June 24, 1935, this caused the citizens of Medellin to appropriate tango. After all this, the presence of local and foreign singers, dancers and tangueros became a tradition in the city, especially in the neighborhood of Guayaquil, where there were multiple competitions of tango singers in the 1960s and 1970s
Then, starting in 2007, the panorama changed and the Annual Tango Festival was reorganized (whose name would later be changed to “International Tango Festival”), which caused many neighborhoods to recall the life and impact of Carlos Gardel. For this reason, the Plaza Gardel is now in Medellín, located at the place where Carlos Gardel died. Recent years have given account of the influence that tango has on the citizens of Medellin, so much so that in 2008 the audience of the tango concerts and contests surpassed the audience that attended the rock concerts or tropical or traditional music of Colombia.
This year was celebrated the thirteenth version of this festival, which brings to the stage more than 400 local artists, thus demonstrating the increase of the coverage that this festival and this genre has in the city. In addition to this, more activities and scenarios were added to the festival, such as Homero Manzi, Casa Gardeliana and Patio del Tango. Children 8 years old dancing and singing this type of music explain, like the other things I mentioned before, the importance of genre in the city, and the remarkable generational changes it has had (because it seems that more and more people are joining the idea of tango). Some of the biggest challenges that the different organizations and tango companies have had to go through is the extension of the genre to new generations, but apparently they have done an excellent job.
Today, the International Tango Festival is one of the most important festivals in the world which presents more than 60 international guests and has an attendance of more than 35 thousand people. For this reasons, this festival should be one of the things you should put on your to-do-list, Moreover, it would be great if you could read about the history of this event and tango in Medellin and know the importance and feeling that this genre causes in the people of this city. Also, it is necessary to have an idea about the important activities of this festival; therefore here goes some of the schedule activities that took place between 16 and 24 June of this year:
Milonga Street on June 19 at 9:00p.m in Parque Deseos in the company of the Orquesta Típica Misteriosa Buenos Aires.
Dance Championship from 16 to 18 June at the Metropolitan Theatre.
The singing contest between 19 and 20 June at the Teatro Pablo Tobón Uribe.
The gala tanguera and opening event of the XIII International Tango Festival of Medellín on June 21 at 9 p.m. in Plaza Botero.
Finally, tango has had an important presence in the Festival of the Flowers in Medellin, many places and activities such as dance and singing take place this year on these dates. Some of the important events are:
Sunday August 4th, Tango Show: Salon Malaga, race 51 # 45-80 5:30 p. m. Monday August 5th, A Puro Tango with its show Passion and Feeling / North Park / 12 m. to 11 p., A Puro Tango, 44 Street (San Juan) # 65-51 / 7 p. m. to 2 a. m. Tuesday August 6, A Puro Tango, 44th street (San Juan) # 65-51 / From 8 p. m. Wednesday August 7, A Puro Tango, 44th street (San Juan) # 65-51 / From 7 p. m. Friday August 9, A Puro Tango, 44th street (San Juan) # 65-51 / From 7 p. m. Saturday, August 10, Tango Show: Salón Málaga, career 51 # 45-80 5:30 p. m.
This large number of events is simply the result of the history that tango has in Medellin and thanks to the different organizations that have taken care to maintain the legacy of this great genre.
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