Travel guide to South America for music lovers
3 min read
South America is one of the world’s great musical continents. From the cobblestoned milongas of Buenos Aires to the carnival streets of Salvador, its rhythms are inseparable from its culture, history and identity. For travellers who want to go deeper than the highlights, building a trip around music unlocks a completely different kind of journey.
- Planning a Music-Focused South American Itinerary
Timing is everything. Rio’s Carnival runs in February, Barranquilla’s follows shortly after, and Colombia’s Vallenato Festival takes place each April in Valledupar. Booking around these events requires planning ahead, but for those who prefer to stay flexible, last-minute holidays can work well outside peak festival periods, when deals are easier to find and crowds are thinner. Combining Brazil, Argentina and Colombia into a single itinerary is entirely feasible, with good regional flight connections between major cities. Wherever you go, seek out local venues, neighbourhood performances and community events instead of tourist-facing shows because the music always sounds better in its natural habitat.
- Brazil’s Musical Heartbeat: Samba, Bossa Nova and Beyond
Brazil’s musical identity is vast and endlessly layered. Rio de Janeiro is where samba’s major schools are based, and visiting their rehearsal spaces during the months before Carnival offers an extraordinary glimpse into the music at its most alive. Salvador in Bahia, with its deep African roots, is equall,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.m,kl.mrhythms here feel older and rawer than anywhere else. For bossa nova, the beach neighbourhoods of Rio, such as Ipanema and Copacabana, carry the genre’s ghost in every bar and café. Forró, MPB, baile funk: Brazil’s musical diversity rewards any traveller willing to explore beyond the obvious.
- Following the Story of Tango in Argentina
Buenos Aires is tango’s spiritual home, and the city wears this proudly. The barrios of San Telmo and La Boca are where the dance has its deepest roots, and both neighbourhoods host milongas, which are social tango events, where locals and visitors dance together on equal terms. As Lonely Planet’s guide to tango in Buenos Aires explains, tango is recognised by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, reflecting how deeply it is inserted into Argentine identity. Taking a lesson before attending a milonga is widely recommended, as it transforms the experience from spectating to participating.
- Discovering Colombia’s Cumbia and Vallenato Traditions
Colombia’s musical geography is extraordinarily rich. Cartagena and Barranquilla on the Caribbean coast are the heartland of cumbia, a rhythm born from African, Indigenous and Spanish influences that forms the backbone of Latin American popular music. Further inland, the city of Valledupar is the spiritual home of vallenato, a genre built around the accordion, caja drum and guacharaca and hosts one of Colombia’s most celebrated annual festivals each spring. Both traditions reward travellers who take time to listen, learn and engage with the communities that keep them alive.
South America rewards the curious traveller. Whether you follow the beat of a samba drum through Rio’s backstreets or find yourself swept into a milonga in Buenos Aires, the music here is not a backdrop but the destination itself.
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
