Feria de Mataderos

The popular Feria de Mataderos is held every Sunday from 11 AM to 7 PM from March to December, however today being a national holiday (174th anniversary of General San Martín's death), we found the Feria opening for a special edition.

We arrived at around 11 AM and half of the booths were already open, the other ones were still empty. The music stage had been set, a giant flag of argentina was being unrolled. People dressed as gauchos and chacarera dancers around the stage were trying out chacarera moves following the folklorik music blasting from the stereos. The singers had not yet arrived, the crowd was still sparse.

I didn't expect much from the Feria but I was pleasantly surprised. I found my favorite alfajores (tucumanos) and 3-4 stalls were selling olive oil at a decent price (7 to 11 k pesos per liter), with bottles of 2lt and 5 lt available for a lower per-liter price. We bought two: one from San Juan and one from Mendoza. Will we have a winner?

The price was so much cheaper than anywhere else in Palermo, either market, supermarket or fair. We also bought alfajores, black olives, and other artesanal produces. Also available several wood, wool, and mate artifacts. There is a small gaucho museum with a traditional pulperia... and a horse.

Fun fact: the place was originally called Nueva Chicago

Quote from Rice

We haven’t been to Fería de Mataderos in years, but I always enjoyed it. Recently, people have looked at me with shock when I say I want to go, because it is considered dangerous these days. serafina , did you get that impression?

Indeed, we had that impression, too, before visiting. In fact, I remember asking to you about it during one of our last in-person meetings.

Instead, it felt safe. We went by car (the run down one, which is perfect to explore certian neighborhoods) and parked in a small road about 3 blocks from the Feria entrance. The Feria is not very big, but there are booths and stands even beyond the actual Feria premises, mostly selling used clothes, food, small artisanal crocheted stuff.

It is a very popular barrio and we were lucky to arrive early on a day when most people don't know there is the Feria (Saturday because it was a public holiday), so it was easy to navigate and we moved around easily. Compared to pictures we had seen in the news with streets jam packed with people, with the risk of pickpocketers, it was a walk in the park.

A large Argentinian family, I would guess. It doesn't seem very practical to eat, especially on your feet and amid a large crowd.