Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia

From chapel vineyards to a national festival

Mendoza began growing vines in the early 17th century to make wine for Catholic Mass, since importing it was very expensive, and each chapel had its own vineyard. At harvest time there were dances, songs and food, and the prettiest harvester was crowned with vine leaves and bunches of grapes. The first official Fiesta de la Vendimia was held in 1936, after Governor Guillermo G. Cano and his minister Frank Romero Day had seen a harvest festival in Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy. It consisted of a parade along Avenida San Martín, a feast in a winery and, at night, the first Acto Central before more than 25,000 people, where the first harvest queen was crowned. In 1972 it became the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia.

From December to February each of Mendoza’s departments holds its own harvest festival and elects a queen, who then competes for the national crown in March.

Three days in March

Before the main events, the archbishop leads the Blessing of the Fruits, a Catholic ceremony of thanks for the harvest, with the image of the Virgen de la Carrodilla, patron of the vineyards; it ends with the governor striking a plough blade, an old ritual calling the workers to rest. On the evening of the first Friday of March comes the Vía Blanca de las Reinas, a two-hour parade of illuminated floats carrying the outgoing and aspiring queens through the centre of Mendoza, watched by more than 300,000 people. The next morning the Carrusel passes through the city centre in daylight, with the queens’ floats, ox- and horse-drawn carts carrying gaucho groups, and dancers from other cultures of the Americas.

That night the Acto Central fills the Frank Romero Day Greek Theatre, set among the hills of Parque General San Martín, where it has been held since 1963. More than a thousand dancers tell a story that changes every year but usually follows Mendoza’s past and present through the work of its people and the making of wine, with giant grapes, the harvest and the winery. Then 300 votes are counted aloud to elect the national queen and vice-queen, who are crowned by their predecessors, and the night ends with fireworks. On the following night the show is repeated, without the election but with concerts by well-known musicians. Since the mid-2010s the election has been debated in Mendoza, with feminist groups arguing that it is a beauty contest that objectifies women.