{"id":2049,"date":"2023-03-26T14:27:47","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T18:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebbsbay.ca\/?p=2049"},"modified":"2023-03-26T17:50:35","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T21:50:35","slug":"vendimia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebbsbay.ca\/index.php\/2023\/03\/26\/vendimia\/","title":{"rendered":"Vendimia"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had just booked our long-term AirBnB rental in Mendoza, and was exchanging messages with our host, Lucas. We would be there from shortly after New Years until the end of March. “Great!” he wrote, “You’ll be here for Vendimia!!”<\/p>\n

For what???<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span>VENDIMIA!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Vendimia is a two week celebration like no other – part harvest festival, mixed with a touch of Mardi Gras, concerts in the park, big street parties, several parades, a beauty pageant, a celebration of Argentine history and culture,\u00a0 and some Las Vegas Show glitz.<\/p>\n

\"\"Oh, and wine. Vendimia is the world’s largest wine festival. There’s lots to do and see that doesn’t involve drinking, but Mendoza’s proud viticultural heritage is front and center.\u00a0 Even the city’s fountains get dyed the ruby red of Mendoza’s signature wine – Malbec. (I found it interesting, as an abstainer, that there was very, very little public drunkenness, despite this focus on wine.)<\/p>\n

\"\"The festival’s origins go back to the 1600’s when the first european settlers, devout by nature, would offer the first fruits of the harvest to the Virgin of Carrodilla, the patron saint of Mendoza’s vineyards. The modern celebration, with all its pageantry and glitz, began in 1936, but the Blessing of the Fruit is still marks the official beginning of Vendimia, in the middle of February, each year.<\/p>\n

Mendoza is the center of Argentina’s wine industry. Some smaller communities in the area have their own celebrations, but the main event is in Mendoza. It’s a bit like winter carnivals back home, several towns have them, but there is only one Carnaval<\/span><\/em> in Quebec City.<\/p>\n

\"\"Several of the events were within easy walking distance of our house – a DJ party in a nearby park. A giant street party on Ar\u00edstedes, home of many of Mendoza’s trendiest clubs and restaurants. A 3 day celebration of Italian food and music in Plaza Italia (62% of Argentinians are of Italian descent).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"And of course a Vend-exposition with free food and wine samples. (One Canadian visitor to Mendoza found this part especially interesting).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"One of the feature events is the crowning of the Queen of Vendimia. All the towns and grape growing regions in Mendoza Province send their representatives. It’s more than a beauty pageant (there are no bathing suits), with the contestants evaluated on several factors aside from their looks. You may have your own feelings on the merits and faults such pageants, but it is immensely<\/span> popular here, and the loudest cheers were coming from young women. It’s their country and their culture. Who am I to judge?<\/p>\n

The Via Blanca<\/em> parade takes place on the festival’s final Friday night. Hundreds of thousands of people line the streets to witness the spectacle. There are bands, horses and even dancing police officers!<\/p>\n