[PUEBLO GARZÓN, URUGUAY] –Here’s a post about a fun gaucho parade and festival in the town of Garzón in Uruguay. We were in the tiny quiet village of Pueblo Garzón, Uruguay. Once abandoned, but bought by the famous chef Francis Mallmann who added a world famous restaurant and a small five room hotel.  I’d been to Garzón several times by myself, but that year I dragged some friends along this time, “You gotta see how cool this place is.”

After a week on the beach in nearby Jose Ignacio — my favorite place on earth — we were in Garzón for a few days to eat and bask in the wide green expanse of the Uruguayan countryside. And most importantly, eat Francis’s amazing food and stay at his cool little gem of a hotel.

It was the First Weekend of March, at the end of Carnival in Uruguay and little did we know what was about to happen. We wanted to take horses up for a picnic in the nearby Uruguayan highlands. But the extremely nice people at the Hotel Garzón apologize and said, in clipped-English:

“I’m sorry but normally we accommodate your request, but today all the horses in town are taken for the… (looking for the word in English)… parrr-ade.”  

“Parade? What parade?”

“Today is our Carnival, we have a big festival in Garzón, when all the gauchos come to town for a parade and then have a beeg festa out in the fields.”

“Perfect!.”

And there we were. We couldn’t have timed it better. After a nice long boozy lunch at Restaurante Garzón meeting up with friends from Montevideo, we simply walked outside to THIS:

First, The Parade

All the people from the surrounding estancias came with their finest outfits, wearing their proudest hats and riding their best horses. A few dozen gringos and vacationers from the nearby beach towns seemed to have heard about it in advance and lined the streets, but mostly it was the gauchos’ parade, not for tourists.

Whole families pranced together down the street, most of the ladies in colorful dresses splayed across their saddles. Calm horses seeming to know exactly what to do. Flags waved in the cloudy sky.

As my brother Mike once said in New Orleans, “Just when you think you’re having fun… along comes a parade!”

This was the Real Deal, not some touristic phony stuff. Some looked like land owners. Some look like they ran the estancias. A couple looked like they were playing the part of horse thieves. 🤣.

Gauchos of every size.

And Then It Was Off to the Festa — a Gaucho Rodeo Outside of Town

And then off they went of to their own Gaucho Rodeo a few clicks outside of town… with us tagging along.

Families set up makeshift tents around the perimeter to protect their lunches and babies from the pending rain. Grilling, drinking, cheering and having a great time. We had no idea what was happening…

But everyone else knew what was about to happen. It was like a bucking bronco contest.

Tough men, or emboldened teenagers, grabbed a wily, stomping horse, forcing a harness around his pissed-off neck, then tying him to a post in the middle of the ring.

They slipped a burlap blindfold over his eyes to calm him down. He was still stomping mad. It took four strong men to calm him down and hold him in place.

And then, with everyone shouting to hurry, a nervous looking young strong buck would climb up on top of the now super-mad bronc, tightening one hand in the reins like a bullrider, waving a red scarf with his free one. And justlikethat, they slip the off the blindfold and let the horse go, with the crowd roaring…

This is tough work and scary to watch. Just like bullriding. Someone somewhere is keeping time and yelling out the length. The gaucho holds on for dear life or gets dumped to the hard ground. I can almost hear the bones cracking.

It all lasts for just a few very intense seconds. The helping riders almost have it as hard, looking out for the safety of the riders, pulling them off to a waiting spare horse, then trying to wrangle the loose horses.

Just look at their concentration — not even watching where they are riding, focused on the rider, all three horses suspended in the air.

 Here’s a great article from Vogue on the cool town of Garzon. And here are links to other articles I’ve written on Pueblo Garzon.