What to Do During the Week & the Weekend in Buenos Aires

Ever wondered what happens behind the scenes at a hotel or restaurant? From September 2 to 4, Hotelga takes over La Rural for three days dedicated to gastronomy, hospitality and tourism. Admission is free with prior registration and is aimed at business owners and professionals in these industries.

One of the main highlights of this edition is its gastronomic competitions. The Grand Final of the Federal Chefs Tournament celebrates its 10th edition, while the World Pizza and Empanada Championship brings competitors together across 12 categories.

There will also be plenty of space to explore what’s next for the industry. Hotelga Summit features panels on the economy, regional tourism and sustainability, with guests including Luciana Geuna, Antonio Aracre and Jorge Macri. Design also takes center stage: a pavilion dedicated to Argentine design, curated by Marcela Fibbiani, brings together proposals focused on the sector’s identity and innovation.

After all the talks, competitions and exploring the pavilions, it’s time for a break: Argentine wineries, a Beer Plaza featuring more than ten craft brands and a space dedicated to vermouth take care of the drinks.

The extra: There will also be live episodes of the podcasts Cerrame la Ocho and Late Check-Out.

Where: Avenida Sarmiento 2704, Palermo.

Nine editions in, Festival Llegás remains the ideal plan for seeing the best of theater at an affordable price. From August 31 to September 6, this haven for theater lovers is once again taking over the city with more than 50 plays and half-price tickets across 10 theaters in Buenos Aires, featuring more than 500 artists throughout an entire week.

The lineup has a bit of everything: commercial theater hits such as Cuestión de Género, starring Moria Casán and Jorge Marrale, at the Metropolitan; Civilización, directed by Lorena Vega at El Galpón de Guevara; Carrera de fondo, starring Julieta Zylberberg and Gadiel Sztryk at El Picadero; and the most unusual offering of all, Shakespeare en el Cementerio, a nighttime tour of the British Cemetery led by Lautaro Vilo.

The festival also includes a circuit of plays in unconventional spaces and open classes. On September 3, for example, there will be a masterclass in acting led by Pablo Ariel Bursztyn at Galpón de Guevara, with a $5,000 reservation fee. Tickets are already on sale on the Festival's website, where you can check the full schedule by venue and time.

The fact: the Festival was born in 2009 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Llegás, the free magazine about the performing arts that is distributed in theaters across Buenos Aires.

Where: various theaters and cultural spaces across the city.

Sendero is putting together a week filled with food, drinks and great music, with a different offering every night. To break up the week, Wednesday, September 2 brings a new edition of Bossa & Wine, with a menu of starters, main courses and desserts to choose from: options range from crispy shrimp, mushroom casserole and griddled provoleta to catch of the day, bife de chorizo or semolina tagliatelle, paired with wine and bossa nova in the background. To finish, there's homemade sambayón ice cream or creamy chocolate ice cream.

On Thursday 3, the lineup adds Not Welcome alongside the Friends & Family Menu, for a night combining the best of Sendero's cuisine with a special music program. And on Friday 4, Vinyl Sessions Vol. 19 brings Gonza Iribarren, Suasnabar and Ryberg spinning vinyl, with house, disco and deeper, more progressive sounds, plus a Chandon activation and a complimentary menu for Tokyo & Friends & Family. Food, wine and good music. With all these options, the path is set for choosing an unbeatable midweek plan.

The fact: the venue is located in Costanera Norte and offers panoramic views of the Río de la Plata.

Where: Avenida Rafael Obligado 6600, Núñez.

The Sívori is kicking off September with two openings you won't want to miss. On September 3 at 6pm, Atmosferismo, by Alejandra Seeber, opens. In this exhibition, the Argentine artist based in New York presents large-format oil paintings that explore landscape as a tension between exposure and shelter, as well as the relationship between the environmental atmosphere and mood.

Two days later, on Saturday 5 at noon, comes Agustín Riganelli. La estilización del esfuerzo, the first major retrospective in more than three decades devoted to this sculptor, one of the most important in Argentina during the first half of the 20th century. The exhibition will feature sculptures in marble, bronze, stone, plaster and wood, drawings, monotypes and even previously unseen pieces from his archive. The show also explores Riganelli's connection to the bohemian scene of Boedo, the origins of tango and the so-called Artistas del Pueblo.

To visit these new exhibitions, keep the museum's opening hours in mind: it is open Monday to Friday, except Tuesdays, from 11am to 7pm, and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 11am to 8pm.

The fact: admission is free on Wednesdays for Argentine residents; senior citizens, students and children under 12 get in free every day.

Where: Avenida Infanta Isabel 555, Palermo.

A flight attendant faints mid-flight and takes the opportunity to confess her love to a fellow passenger: that's how Confesión tardía de amor begins, a café concert with live piano and electric guitar, an aerial concert for anyone who has ever wanted to be loved. It takes place on Thursday, September 3 at 8pm at Ciudad Cultural Konex, and it's a great opportunity to catch some good independent theater in the Abasto and Almagro circuit.

The play, directed by Tomás Corradi Bracco, premiered as part of Fundación Cazadores' Lado B series in 2024, continued adding performances throughout 2025 and was featured in the seventh edition of Festival Callejón. The cast includes Violeta Marquís—who also directs the play—Sebastián Sonenblum and Nicole Kaplan, with original music by Catalina Telerman and Sebastián Sonenblum. Tickets are available on the Konex website. Remain seated and keep your seat belt fastened for a high-flying theatrical experience.

The fact: for online purchases, you can get 20% off tickets when paying with Galicia Visa cards by scanning the MODO QR code from the Galicia app and/or MODO.

Where: Sarmiento 3131, Almagro.

Villa Crespo turns into a giant movie screen with the seventh edition of VECINE, the Villa Crespo Film Festival: free screenings, with directors and cast members presenting their films in person. The event's name is a clever find: the community—in this case, local residents—and cinema have a lot in common. On September 4, the festival kicks off with an opening cocktail alongside special guests.

From there, it doesn't stop: on the 5th at 8pm, La Central Circo premieres Una vez, un circo, a documentary about the historic Moscow Circus, while on the 6th at 7pm, Fundación Cazadores presents a focus on Narcisa Hirsch, an absolute pioneer of Argentine experimental cinema.

The festival continues after the 6th with short films in competition, special screenings and the seven feature films competing for the audience award, running through September 13 at various venues across Villa Crespo.

The fact: admission is free, with advance registration on the VECINE Festival website.

Where: Antezana 340, Luis María Drago 236, Villarroel 1438 and General Manuel A. Rodriguez 1566, Villa Crespo.

Chamamé has a new generation, and they'll all come together on September 5 at 4pm at the Parque Centenario Amphitheater. Javier Acevedo, Agustín Macías and Carolina Rojas lead Manifiesto Chamamé, alongside Mariano Velardi, Thomas Ferreyra and Facundo Cano.

The group presents original compositions, unpublished poetry and their own arrangements that update this genre from Corrientes and northeastern Argentina, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2020. It's a great plan for spending time outdoors, bringing a mate and, who knows, giving in to dancing to one of the country's most joyful folk dances.

The fact: admission is free and on a first-come, first-served basis until the amphitheater reaches capacity; the event will be canceled in case of rain.

Where: Avenida Leopoldo Marechal 832, Caballito.

This weekend, Recoleta fills up with books full of history for a new edition of FLU, the Fiesta del Libro Usado: a carefully curated selection of titles from used bookstores, talks with major names in Argentine literature, readings, interviews and live music, with closing concerts on both days.

On both days, the used-book fair opens at noon. On September 6 at 1:30pm, the band Perdón poeta takes the stage with live music. At 2:30pm, Lucas Adur and Juan Maisonnave delve into that monumental work, Bioy Casares' Borges, in the talk "El Borges de Bioy," and an hour later Ricardo Romero and Esther Cross offer a journey through monsters in literature. At 4:30pm, Gabi Borrelli delivers the official opening speech of FLU, and the day closes at 5:30pm with a performance by Nación Ekeko.

On September 6, at 2:30pm, Cecilia Bona invites visitors to reflect on the practice of reading and the right to books in the talk "Todos somos lectores," while at 3:30pm Susana Villalba and Tom Maver read their favorite poems in "Un milagro perdido." At 4:30pm, Juan Mattio interviews Liliana Heker about her reading habits, tradition and new generations, and the weekend comes to an end at 5:30pm with a concert by singer-songwriter Paula Maffia. These are books—the used ones, the ones with history and layers of reading—but before calling it a fair, we're talking about a celebration.

The fact: admission is free for Argentine citizens and residents; in case of rain, the event will be rescheduled for October 4 and 5.

Where: Junín 1930, Recoleta.

If there's one dish that represents us, it's milanesa. And this weekend, on September 5 and 6 from noon to 8pm, it gets its own festival: 35 stalls and food trucks, with more than 100 varieties, from classic neighborhood-bar versions to chef-driven and fine-dining creations. There will be skirt steak, rump, eye of round, sirloin, matambre, tapa de asado, bife de chorizo, ribeye and even bone-in versions, marinated or smoked; Neapolitan-style, parmigiana, fugazzeta, Tex-Mex, a caballo, with caramelized onions, Maryland-style or Swiss-style, served with fries, fettuccine or whatever you prefer as a side. There are also special breadings—panko, sourdough breadcrumbs, toasted white bread—as well as chicken, fish, seitan and oyster mushroom versions, with vegan and gluten-free options.

The fact: admission is free.

Where: Avenida del Libertador 4101, Palermo.

AMARU premieres on September 6 at Teatro Picadero, arriving with the name of a sacred serpent to shake up a somewhat crazy family. Written by Andrea Garrote and co-directed with Carolina Stegmayer, the play weaves together two stories: a romantic comedy of misunderstandings and a more fantastical tale, in which AMARU—the sacred serpent of the Quechua people—awakens among the ruins of this family to propose another way of perceiving time.

The cast includes Andrea Garrote, Marcos Ferrante, Fiamma Carranza Macchi and Julián Cnochaert. Performances are on Sundays at 6pm, and tickets are available through plateanet.com or at the theater box office.

The fact: Andrea Garrote, the play's actress and playwright, said she wrote AMARU several years ago, but the production was delayed because of her previous projects, all of them successful: Pundonor, La madre, Prima Facie, El estado de la Unión, among others.

Where: Enrique Santos Discépolo 1857, Balvanera.

Chef Damián Shiizu has just opened the doors of TOKI NORI BAR, his new handroll bar in the heart of Palermo, and the ritual is just as good as the food: each table gets a Japanese hibachi grill with charcoal to toast the nori seaweed right at the table, just before assembling the handroll by hand.

The menu features classic and crunchy handrolls that blend Japan with Nikkei flavors and influences from other Asian cuisines—including trout, shrimp, white fish, unagi and vegetarian options—as well as nigiri, chirashi at lunchtime and a cocktail bar serving original creations, with sake taking center stage in a second space with a more nighttime atmosphere.

The fact: the founding chef of Toki Nori has three mentions in the Michelin Guide.

Where: Thames 1780, Palermo.