A traditional carnival kicked off in Buenos Aires on Saturday. Each weekend through March 8, its streets will turn into open-air dance floors, and sedate housewives will transform into hot-blooded samba dancers.
The carnival started with a parade in central Buenos Aires on Saturday night that lasted through Monday morning, spreading to Greater Buenos Aires and its neighboring areas. It involved tens of thousands of dancers performing in 130 groups.
The first street carnival in Argentina, then governed by the Spanish, was held in 1600. In 1771, street carnivals were banned and festivities had to be moved to clubs and private houses. Ninety years later, carnivals returned to the streets. In 1997, the Buenos Aires Carnival was declared the cultural heritage of the Argentine capital.
