Despite the fact that Carlos Gardel’s death that unfortunate June 1935 would occur at the Olaya Herrera airport itself, tango was already intensely experienced in Medellín, due in part to the Argentine cinema of the 20’s and 30’s, which Gardel himself admired with a mixture of charm, surprise and fascination.
This culture laid its foundations in two of the most traditional neighborhoods of Medellin: the Manrique and Guayaquil neighborhoods and is preserved over time with typical places such as the Café Alaska or the Gardelian House itself, which was erected largely thanks to the insistence and tenacity of Don Leonardo Nieto Jardon.
An Argentinean who arrived in Medellín in 1961 with the intention of getting to know the city where the singer Carlos Gardel died and of which he fell in love because he assured that more tango could be heard than even in Buenos Aires itself.
Don Leonardo was also the owner of Café Versalles in the traditional Calle Junín, the first place where puff pastry eempanadas were served in the conservative Medellín and also where, on the second floor, Manuel Mejía Vallejo would write the work ¨Aire de tango¨.
This, without forgetting that Café Versalles received great Argentine literary personalities such as Ernesto Sábato and Jorge Luis Borges himself.
Patio del Tango, Casa Cultural del Tango Homero Manzi and Salón Málaga.
But besides the Café Alaska, the Museo Casa Gardeliana and the Café Versalles, other places such as the Patio del Tango in Barrio Trinidad, the Casa Cultural del Tango Homero Manzi and the Salón Málaga, also commemorate and celebrate today with dance, nostalgia and feeling, a Medellín that has never stopped being tango.
Medellín International Tango Festival
Every year during the month of June, Medellin celebrates the traditional Medellin International Tango Festival, which will take place this year between June 20 and 26 with the participation of more than 450 national and international artists, in one of the most important celebrations of tango culture in Latin America.
For a week, Medellín will be the capital of tango, where streets, squares, theaters and various corners of the city, such as Plaza Gardel and the Metropolitan Theater, will be filled with the sounds of the bandoneon. Uruguay will be the guest country at this edition.
Balcón de los Artistas Tango Route
On the occasion of the annual commemoration of the International Tango Festival of Medellin, the social and cultural project “El Balcón de los Artistas”, has a route that reviews the historical memory of tango in one of its epicenters in Medellin: Barrio Manrique, which also through its streets portrays the history of a place that has been transformed in part, thanks to the culture of dance.