Vendimia is the name for the celebration of the harvesting of the grapes, an event that kicks off every March early in the month. Over the course of the celebration, there are two parades, numerous wine tastings, and a huge show in an outdoor amphitheater with 50,000 in attendance over 1,000 performers.
The first night of the festival kicks off with a parade featuring all of the many princesses selected by the towns in the province - one of whom will be selected as the Queen of Vendimia and will win a car, as well as lots of celebrity endorsements. It's a pretty big thing here. That night, I was even able to make wine the old fashioned way - by jumping on the grapes! The following day is another parade featuring the "gauchos" (cowboys) of Mendoza.
The highlight of the multi-day festival is being able to secure a ticket to the Vendimia performance, which kicks off around 10 pm and doesn't end until around 2:30 in the morning. Over the course of the 4 1/2 hour marathon performance, attendees are treated to live dance performances, a comedy routine and a concert of folklore music representative of Argentina. It wrapped up with a 30 minute long set of fireworks that matched that of NYC on July 4.
This was my fifth time attending and I can't wait to return in March of 2015! For more photos of my time last week in Mendoza, click here.
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