The 8th Buenos Aires Tango Festival is just around the corner, starting February 24 and ending March 5. There are a number of free performances that are part of the festival, such as the opening night performance in the wooded park in Palermo. My favorite part of the festival is the grand milonga that takes place on one of the main streets in downtown Buenos Aires, just in front of the landmark Obelisc. This year, the open air milonga is Saturday night, March 4 at 9pm.

Buenos Aires also maintains a very good portal for tango happenings around town at tangodata.gov.ar. Like a lot of the city’s web sites, navigation is rather confusing. But browse around and you’ll find some interesting information. A very useful part of the site is the listing of tango shows and performances for every night of the year. You can search by show or place or have only the free performances listed but the calendar is really the best option, just click on a date and the site will list all the shows and performances for that date along with the price range for each venue. It’s the only source I know that has comparative prices listed.

ABC News recently ran an interesting article on the Tango Tourism Boom in Buenos Aires.