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EveryParampara

Traditions of Montevideo

A river-plate capital whose candombe drummers, Carnival of ninety days and the mate flask are everyday sights.

Montevideo is a calm port city on the Río de la Plata, with a strong Afro-Uruguayan heritage in candombe, a drumming tradition recognised by UNESCO. Uruguayans carry a thermos and a mate gourd everywhere. The Carnival is said to be the longest in the world, running for over forty days.

Montevideo
Photo: Marcelo Campi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Candombe and Carnaval

On Llamadas, the parade of drums, groups of drummers in the Barrio Sur and Palermo play three types of drums, chico, repique and piano, in a rolling rhythm, with dancers in historic costume, the gramillero, mama vieja and escobero. The Carnaval has murga groups of satirical singers in painted faces.

At the table

Asado, a barbecue of beef ribs, chorizo and morcilla, and chivito, a steak sandwich, are the national foods. Dulce de leche is spread on everything, and alfajores are the favourite sweets. Mate is drunk all day, and torta frita, fried dough, on rainy days.

Signature traditions of Montevideo

MurgaThe Carnival group.AsadoThe barbecue.

Also part of it, and being written: Candombe (The drumming.), Chivito (The sandwich.), Mate (The drink.).

A trail idea for Montevideo

  1. Mercado del Puerto Eat asado.
  2. Ciudad Vieja Walk the old town.
  3. Rambla Stroll by the river.
About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, markets and festival dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇺🇾 Montevideo, UruguayNostalgia NightNoche de la Nostalgia Uruguay's nationwide retro music and dance celebration held every 24 AugustFestival 🇺🇾 Montevideo, UruguayCarnival in Uruguay An extended festival of drum processions, stage satire, and dance across Uruguay.Festival 🇺🇾 Montevideo, Uruguay and 3 moreMurga A lively Carnival musical theatre of chorus, percussion and social satirePerformance 🇺🇾 Montevideo, Uruguay and 4 morePayada Improvised ten-line verses traded by guitar-playing payadores in the Río de la PlataPerformance 🇺🇾 Uruguay and 3 moreTango A social partner dance of the Río de la Plata, improvised step by stepPerformance 🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain and 2 morePeineta A curved decorative comb worn by women beneath a lace mantilla in the Hispanic worldDress

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.