Opinion Column - By Candelaria Cracco *
"Every Saturday, the battle of passions is experienced in Concordia: the most passionate carnival,” announces the advertising for the greatest summer festival in Concordia, with more than 1,000 carnival performers who make the event one of the most important tourist attractions in the region.
It is in the middle of summer when the festival explodes in rhythm and the question arises: how is this parade full of glitter and color achieved? Tourists and the public may experience it as an exclusive event of this season, but those who are involved in all its details know that it is the result of months and months of work.
In a tour of the workshops of the four carnival groups that compete in the Carnival of Concordia, the groups agreed that each costume is unique; behind them are designers, blacksmiths, artisans, to which are added families, friends, and residents who make it possible to arrive on time. Thus, they assemble complex structures with wires, embroider, sew, glue, dye feathers, paint, and work from the moment the results of one edition are known until the beginning of the next to provide a quality show to the public of Concordia and to the tourists who visit Concordia.
The workshops safeguard their own world of fantasy dominated by color, sequins, stones, feathers, crystals, but above all, passion and work to share a unique moment.
They prepare throughout the year. As soon as each edition ends, they already begin to meet to see and analyze the proposals, arguments, and music for the next one. In the months prior to the event, the sound of drums takes over the city of Concordia and the samba songs begin to be sung by the locals who are already feeling the pulse of a new carnival. The carnival groups rehearse and the music reaches every corner of the city, marking what is to come.
The Carnival of Concordia is a unique popular spectacle, in which drum shows also take the stage and each carnival group performs a theatricalization with dance according to the chosen theme. There are a large number of professional artists and also amateur carnival performers, who during the year dedicate themselves to other things (there are professionals, merchants, teachers, professors, students) but who in the summer put their passion into it, breaking prejudices and enjoying the great local festival.
In our city, the carnival is synonymous with fun, it is the perfect excuse to let yourself be carried away by the madness and become actors, dancers, cover your face with glitter, put on feathers, and get on a float. It combines joy, commitment, and passion in an inseparable trident that gives great satisfaction when seeing the happiness, applause, and fun of the people. The carnival means PASSION with capital letters.
In the last three years, the growth of this festival has been consolidated. Based on the joint work of the Municipality with the Carnival groups so that they grow from their essence; and with the private sector through Emcontur for regional and national promotion, following this vision promoted by the mayor Enrique Cresto, understanding the Carnival as a socio-cultural phenomenon and a tourist product that generates jobs, and that provides spaces for inclusion and integration.
Thus strengthening a silent work that for months is carried out by thousands of residents of Concordia, and that explodes in the months of January and February. This Saturday, February 9th, will be the third parade, and if you haven't experienced it yet, you cannot miss this artistic and cultural festival that in Concordia is experienced in a unique way.
* Journalist, teacher, and carnival performer. For ten years she paraded as a dancer and today she continues with her passion, collaborating in the dissemination and communication of the Carnival.