Cosquín Festival
Encyclopedia
The Cosquín Folk Festival (not to be confused with the Cosquín Rock
festival) is one of the most important folk music
festivals of Argentina
, and most important in Latin America.
It lasts 9 days and takes place in the second half of January in the city of Cosquín
, a scenic, Punilla Valley
location in Córdoba Province
. The tradition used to refer to nine moons of Cosquín.
The first Festival was held Cosquín between 21 and 29 January 1961. The initiative came from a group of city residents led by Dr. Reinaldo Wisner and Dr. Alejandro Guinder, who decided to organize a folklore music and culture show during the summer holidays, in order to attract tourism. The presence of renowned artists from around the country exceeded all expectations, and the festival became the largest annual folk event in the country, as well as one of the most important in Latin America
.
The Cosquín Festival unfolded into a boom of folklore music in the 1960s and '70s, becoming the nation's best-known venue for the characteristic music of the Argentine hinterland (ie, the country with the exception of the city of Buenos Aires
, whose music has traditionally been the tango
). Cosquín prompted a renewal of the powerful local folk music among younger listeners in particular, and has persisted in the Argentine musical scene since.
Its organizers then had the good sense to organize Cosquín Festival, not only as a musical competition, but as an integral folk experience, centered on the famous "rocks folk" outside the official event in which musicians all backgrounds and freely sing all night, until the candles do not burn".
Since the second edition of the festival in 1962, the important Radio Belgrano of Buenos Aires and a network of stations nationwide, began broadcasting Nine Cosquín Moons live, familiarizing millions of listeners in the far-flung country to the festival. After the success of the third edition, President José María Guido
, by Decree 1547/63, designated the last week of January as National Folklore Week, and established its headquarters at Cosquín.
Since then the festival has grown in Cosquín national and international repercussions. The Organization of American States
(OAS) decided to become a sponsor in recognition of the festival's importance to the culture of the Americas
. The Museum of Mankind
in Paris
has filmed and recorded the festival's multifaceted popular expressions. In Germany
, the city of Stuttgart
has given the name "Cosquín" to one of its stages, and in 1981, the Japan
ese city of Kawamata began organizing a festival called "Cosquín en Japón
", held annually in October.
Julio Mahárbiz, the festival's master of ceremonies since 1963, became known for his call at each of the opening nights of the festival's seasons: aquiii Cosquíííínnnn ("Here, Cosquín!"), the inspiration for which Mahárbiz attributed to a style used by a popular football sportscaster at the time, Fioravanti.
In 1967, renowned guitarist Atahualpa Yupanqui
won the first prize at the festival and in 1972, a newly completed stage was named in his honor. A feature documentary
on the festival, Mire que lindo es mi país (My Country's Beautiful) was produced in 1981. From 1984, on the occasion of the 24th Festival of Cosquín, the public television station Argentina Televisora Color (ATC, now Channel 7
), began broadcasting live throughout the country the first two hours of eachmoon, thus helping popularize the event among television viewers.
Throughout its history Cosquín has been the definitive place to leverage the success of the most important artists of the folk music of Argentina, including Mercedes Sosa
, León Gieco
, Víctor Heredia
, Eduardo Falú
, Los Chalchaleros
, Los Fronterizos
, Los Cantores del Alba, Los Cuatro de Córdoba, Los Tucu Tucu, Los de Salta, Julia Elena Dávalos, Ramona Galarza, María Ofelia, Soledad Pastorutti
, Argentino Luna, Gustavo Leguizamón, Antonio Tormo, and, among many others, comic narrator Luis Landriscina and Los Indios Tacunau, a duo who became known for their rousing rendition of the patriotic San Lorenzo march
.
In 2001, a new arena was completed, with a 50 meter-long stage totaling and 830 m²
in surface area. The stage can rotate 180 degrees to expedite the schedule of performances.
With this infrastructure, Cosquín currently has one of the largest stages in Latin America
. In total, the amphitheater has a capacity of nearly 10,000 spectators, of whom 7800 sitting in the seats of the central field, and 2,000 people are located on both side galleries.
The Atahualpa Yupanqui Stage is located on Prospero Molina Square. This site was named after one of the founders of Cosquín, who lived between 1827 and 1889.
Some of the activities taking place during the nine days are:
That spirit that characterizes folk Cosquín in nine days and nights the festival that lasts has been dubbed theduende coscoíno ("Cosquín elf").
Cosquin Rock
Cosquin Rock is an Argentine music festival, held annually since 2001. It is held at Cosquín, Córdoba. Important national rock singers and groups participate in the festival, along with some of the most important international rock bands, mostly of Spanish-speaking countries like Spain, Mexico and...
festival) is one of the most important folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
festivals of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and most important in Latin America.
It lasts 9 days and takes place in the second half of January in the city of Cosquín
Cosquin
Cosquin may refer toa place* Cosquín, Córdoba, a small town in Argentinaa surname* Emmanuel Cosquin , French folklorist....
, a scenic, Punilla Valley
Punilla Valley
The Punilla Valley is a broad fluvial valley in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. It is located in the center-northwest of the province, bordered by the Sierras Chicas in the east and the Sierras Grandes and the Achala Pamp in the west, oriented from north to south...
location in Córdoba Province
Córdoba Province (Argentina)
Córdoba is a province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are : Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, La Pampa, San Luis, La Rioja and Catamarca...
. The tradition used to refer to nine moons of Cosquín.
History
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
The Cosquín Festival unfolded into a boom of folklore music in the 1960s and '70s, becoming the nation's best-known venue for the characteristic music of the Argentine hinterland (ie, the country with the exception of the city of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, whose music has traditionally been the tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
). Cosquín prompted a renewal of the powerful local folk music among younger listeners in particular, and has persisted in the Argentine musical scene since.
Its organizers then had the good sense to organize Cosquín Festival, not only as a musical competition, but as an integral folk experience, centered on the famous "rocks folk" outside the official event in which musicians all backgrounds and freely sing all night, until the candles do not burn".
Since the second edition of the festival in 1962, the important Radio Belgrano of Buenos Aires and a network of stations nationwide, began broadcasting Nine Cosquín Moons live, familiarizing millions of listeners in the far-flung country to the festival. After the success of the third edition, President José María Guido
José María Guido
José María Guido was an interim President of Argentina from 30 March 1962 to 12 October 1963.Guido was elected to the Argentine Senate for Río Negro Province in 1958, representing the Intransigent Radical Civic Union...
, by Decree 1547/63, designated the last week of January as National Folklore Week, and established its headquarters at Cosquín.
Since then the festival has grown in Cosquín national and international repercussions. The Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
(OAS) decided to become a sponsor in recognition of the festival's importance to the culture of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. The Museum of Mankind
Musée de l'Homme
The Musée de l'Homme was created in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne. It is the descendant of the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, founded in 1878...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
has filmed and recorded the festival's multifaceted popular expressions. In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the city of Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
has given the name "Cosquín" to one of its stages, and in 1981, the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese city of Kawamata began organizing a festival called "Cosquín en Japón
Cosquín en Japón
Cosquín en Japón is a three-day Andean music festival held annually in Kawamata, Fukushima, Japan.In 1955, , a resident of Kawamata and Andean music enthusiast, formed Norte Japón, otherwise known as the...
", held annually in October.
Julio Mahárbiz, the festival's master of ceremonies since 1963, became known for his call at each of the opening nights of the festival's seasons: aquiii Cosquíííínnnn ("Here, Cosquín!"), the inspiration for which Mahárbiz attributed to a style used by a popular football sportscaster at the time, Fioravanti.
In 1967, renowned guitarist Atahualpa Yupanqui
Atahualpa Yupanqui
Atahualpa Yupanqui was an Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist, and writer. He is considered the most important Argentine folk musician of the 20th century....
won the first prize at the festival and in 1972, a newly completed stage was named in his honor. A feature documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
on the festival, Mire que lindo es mi país (My Country's Beautiful) was produced in 1981. From 1984, on the occasion of the 24th Festival of Cosquín, the public television station Argentina Televisora Color (ATC, now Channel 7
Canal 7 Argentina
Canal Siete, TV Pública or TV Pública Digital is an Argentine television network founded on October 17, 1951. Between 1979 and 1999, the network was known as Argentina Televisora Color . During the 1978 World Cup, it was known as A78TV.Owned, financed and operated by the Argentine State, Canal 7 is...
), began broadcasting live throughout the country the first two hours of eachmoon, thus helping popularize the event among television viewers.
Throughout its history Cosquín has been the definitive place to leverage the success of the most important artists of the folk music of Argentina, including Mercedes Sosa
Mercedes Sosa
Haydée Mercedes Sosa, known as La Negra, was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout South America and some countries outside the continent. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by both...
, León Gieco
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations...
, Víctor Heredia
Victor Heredia
Víctor Heredia is an Argentine singer songwriter. Author of Taki Ongoy, a symphonic work about Taki Unquy, a millenarian movement against the Spanish conquest.-Biography:...
, Eduardo Falú
Eduardo Falú
Eduardo Falú is a well-known Argentine folk music guitarist and composer.-Life and work:Eduardo Falú was born in El Galpón, a village near San José de Metán in the province of Salta, Argentina in 1923. His parents, Juan and Fada Falú, were Syrian immigrants...
, Los Chalchaleros
Los Chalchaleros
Los Chalchaleros is an Argentine musical ensemble consisting today of four men. The group was established in 1948 in the northern province of Salta. It is named after a local song-bird, the chalchalero....
, Los Fronterizos
Los Fronterizos
Los Fronterizos is an Argentine musical band consisting of four men. The group was established in 1953 in the northern province of Salta -- bordering on Bolivia -- from which "Los Fronterizos" is derived....
, Los Cantores del Alba, Los Cuatro de Córdoba, Los Tucu Tucu, Los de Salta, Julia Elena Dávalos, Ramona Galarza, María Ofelia, Soledad Pastorutti
Soledad Pastorutti
Soledad "La Sole" Pastorutti is an Argentine folk singer, who brought the genre to the younger generations at the end of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21st....
, Argentino Luna, Gustavo Leguizamón, Antonio Tormo, and, among many others, comic narrator Luis Landriscina and Los Indios Tacunau, a duo who became known for their rousing rendition of the patriotic San Lorenzo march
San Lorenzo march
The San Lorenzo march is an Argentine military march, whose lyrics celebrate the role played by the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers commanded by José de San Martín at the Battle of San Lorenzo during the Argentine War of Independence. Special mention receives the heroic sargeant Juan Bautista Cabral...
.
In 2001, a new arena was completed, with a 50 meter-long stage totaling and 830 m²
M²
m2 may mean:*Square metre, an SI measure of area*m2 , the ambient project of German electronic musician and DJ Mathis MootzM2 may mean:*M squared, a measure of laser beam quality*M2 , by Marcus Miller...
in surface area. The stage can rotate 180 degrees to expedite the schedule of performances.
With this infrastructure, Cosquín currently has one of the largest stages in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. In total, the amphitheater has a capacity of nearly 10,000 spectators, of whom 7800 sitting in the seats of the central field, and 2,000 people are located on both side galleries.
The Atahualpa Yupanqui Stage is located on Prospero Molina Square. This site was named after one of the founders of Cosquín, who lived between 1827 and 1889.
Cosquín Nine Moons
The Cosquín Nine Moons are organized as an experience that has its center at the festival, but goes beyond it to become a truly integral folk experience.Some of the activities taking place during the nine days are:
- Cosquín Festival of Song
- Performances by professional folklorists.
- Performances of folk dance ballets.
- The famous "boulders": tents where artists interact with the public, as well as tents and bonfires by the river, where revelers sing and dance nonstop.
- The Congress of Man in Argentina and Our Culture: There are courses and workshops for children and adults. Expose and teach artisans, artists, scholars, scientists. It offers courses in native languages such as QuechuaQuechua languagesQuechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
and GuaraníGuaraní languageGuaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...
. - The Augusto Raúl Cortázar National Exhibition of Crafts and Folk Art, named after one of the most important scholars of Argentine folklore.
That spirit that characterizes folk Cosquín in nine days and nights the festival that lasts has been dubbed theduende coscoíno ("Cosquín elf").
Ode to Cosquín
The Cosquín Festival was honored with a hymn composed by Zulema Alcayaga and Waldo Belloso. The final stanza of the hymn reads:-
- The bells soar to the sky
- Repeating the name that unites us:
- Cosquín, Cosquín, Cosquín, Cosquín,
- Cosquín, Cosquín.
- Come see the miracle
- Cosquín starts singing.
See also
- FolkloreFolkloreFolklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
- Argentine culture
- Tourism in ArgentinaTourism in ArgentinaTourism in Argentina is favored by its ample and varied natural assets and by its cultural offerings. The country is lucky to have everything a tourist would ask for...
- Cosquín en JapónCosquín en JapónCosquín en Japón is a three-day Andean music festival held annually in Kawamata, Fukushima, Japan.In 1955, , a resident of Kawamata and Andean music enthusiast, formed Norte Japón, otherwise known as the...
- Cosquín RockCosquin RockCosquin Rock is an Argentine music festival, held annually since 2001. It is held at Cosquín, Córdoba. Important national rock singers and groups participate in the festival, along with some of the most important international rock bands, mostly of Spanish-speaking countries like Spain, Mexico and...