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.
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
Also part of it, and being written: Candombe (The drumming.), Chivito (The sandwich.), Mate (The drink.).
A trail idea for Montevideo
- Mercado del Puerto Eat asado.
- Ciudad Vieja Walk the old town.
- Rambla Stroll by the river.
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.
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Murga: Mediared, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Asado: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source