Chacarera Festival in Villamontes

Festichacarera is a festival, now in its 10th year, in which groups compete against each other by dancing the Chacarera, a traditional dance from Southeastern Bolivia (the Chaco region). This year the Chacarera Festival will take place on November 6th and 7th in Villamontes and 60 dance troups from 7 of Bolivia's 9 departments will participate.

Dancers wear traditional Bolivian "cowboy" garb similar to that worn by the Argentinean "gauchos". Because the objective is to promote the chacarera as a traditional Bolivian dance, participants must use only costumes that are traditional to Bolivia and also must not dance any of the music that could be mistaken as belonging to Argentina. If you're visiting Eastern Bolivia during this time, it's a great opportunity to hear some of Bolivia's happiest music.