Get Out!: books, buildings and barbecue bombs

Finally, it’s beginning to look like actual springtime has hit Buenos Aires, a city that’s always sprouting with cultural events and weekend plans, whether they are major literary and film festivals to independent art circuits and open-door architecture events. 

This weekend you can discover Japanese craftsmanship at the Museum of Eastern Art, meet writers at FILBA, browse new releases at outdoor book fairs or follow the smoke at a celebration of Argentine and international grilling. Add live music, neighborhood workshops and unexpected encounters, and the city — and the weather! — offers plenty of reasons to step outside. 

As always, the Herald’s got you covered.

FIC.UBA Sept. 30–Oct. 7
Five venues, including Cine Cosmos, Cine Arte Cacodelphia and Sala Leopoldo Lugones
Free admission. Program available online. 

Leos Carax’s Mauvais Sang The University of Buenos Aires presents its fourth International Film Festival FIC.UBA, with competitions, premieres, retrospectives, tributes and seminars across five venues, including three cinemas, the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urbanism (FADU-UBA) and the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. The program spotlights Japanese master Yasujirō Ozu and French auteur Léos Carax, who will attend the festival and give a conference. 

Pioneering producer Lita Stantic and veteran cinematographer Félix “Chango” Monti will receive honorary doctorates from UBA. The International Panorama section features films by acclaimed contemporary directors, including Sergei Loznitsa’s Imperium, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Tierra de mi padre, Radu Jude’s Le Journal d’une femme de chambre, Bruno Dumont’s Red Rocks and Testa o croce? by Matteo Zoppis and Alessio Rigo de Righi.

Open House Oct. 3–4
More than 200 venues and activities across Buenos Aires, available here
Free admission

Open House Buenos Aires is a nonprofit architecture and urbanism festival offering access to buildings, projects and areas that shape the city. Over the weekend, more than 200 buildings and spaces invite visitors to rediscover Buenos Aires opening their doors, with urban walks, bike tours, live music sessions and other activities. Sites range from historic monuments to the latest buildings by contemporary architecture studios.

Most visits and activities are free and do not require advance registration, with admission on a first-come, first-served basis. A limited number of venues and activities require prior registration because of capacity limits or host requirements; these are clearly marked in the festival’s online catalog and digital map.

Abre Villa Crespo Oct. 4–5, 4–8 p.m.
More than 36 artist and craft workshops across Villa Crespo
Free admission

Abre Villa Crespo opens the doors of more than 36 self-managed artist and craft workshops for a neighborhood-wide weekend of exhibitions, open studios, demonstrations, music, fairs and guided visits. A map will help visitors plot their own route, with each workshop listing its activities and location. 

There’s also a passport to collect stamps along the way: complete the circuit and you’ll be entered into a raffle with prizes. The event brings together a network of independent creative spaces working collectively to strengthen and expand opportunities for artists and craftspeople. 

Follow @abrevillacrespo for updates on participating artists, workshops and activities. It’s a chance to move beyond the “I know you from Instagram” version of the local creative scene and meet the people and projects behind the screens.

Ningyō: Tradition and Modernity in Japanese Dolls Sept. 30 to Nov. 22, Wednesday to Sunday, 2 p.m. — 9 p.m.
National Museum of Eastern Art (Viamonte 525, 2nd floor, Pavilion 3)
Free admission

Explore the cultural depth and diversity of Japanese dolls in “Ningyō: Tradition and Modernity in Japanese Dolls”, a new exhibition presented by the Embassy of Japan in Argentina, The Japan Foundation and the Museo Nacional de Arte Oriental. 

The show features 65 works from The Japan Foundation’s collection and traveling exhibition program, tracing how ningyō — a Japanese term meaning “human form” — have accompanied different aspects of life in Japan for centuries. The dolls reflect rituals, wishes for protection and prosperity, family celebrations, traditional arts and craftsmanship, as well as more recent popular culture. 

The exhibition opens Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. with a public event and runs through Nov. 22.

LITERATURE Buenos Aires International Literature Festival FILBA Sept. 30–Oct. 4
Eight venues across Buenos Aires
Most activities free; some require advance registration and/or payment

Claire Keegan (Philippe Matsas/Opale.photo) Emmanuel Carrere The 18th International Literature Festival FILBA brings five days of books, conversations, readings, poetry, performances and music to Buenos Aires under the theme “Habitat.” The lineup spans writers and artists from Argentina and abroad, including Emmanuel Carrère, Claire Keegan, Camila Sosa Villada, Claudia Piñeiro, Guillermo Martínez, Leila Guerriero, Vivi Tellas and Lucrecia Martel. 

Most activities are free, although some talks and workshops require advance registration and may carry a fee. 

Highlights include Carrère in conversation with Guerriero at the UBA Law School on Friday, Oct. 2, with simultaneous translation and a livestream on FILBA’s YouTube channel, and Martel in conversation with Mercedes Halfon at MALBA on Sunday, Oct. 4. The Eterna Cadencia bookstore will be on hand throughout the festival, while FILBA Noche adds poetry, readings and parties after dark.

La Fiera del Libro Oct. 2–4, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Ecoparque (Av. Gral. Las Heras 4267)
Admission: Free for Buenos Aires residents and eligible groups; general admission AR$11,300. Foreign visitors ticket is AR$19,700

The Ecoparque will turn into an open-air book fair featuring 100 bookstores, publishers and distributors and 14 activities over three days. Organized by the Argentine Book Chamber, La Fiera del Libro (A Spanish pun for The Book Beast) will offer titles spanning fiction, history, poetry, graphic novels, children’s literature, art, music, cooking, design and more. 

The program also includes illustration and character-creation workshops, storytelling and poetry readings. Nature and art take center stage too, with birdwatching sessions led by Aves Argentinas specialists, live music and illustration performances, and an inclusive interactive play area supported by therapeutic professionals. 

Visitors who purchase admission receive 10% off books with the event’s QR code.

Flores Book Fair Oct. 3, 3–9 p.m.
Flores
Free admission

More than 200 publishers will take to the streets for the seventh edition of the Flores Book Fair, bringing essays, novels, short stories, comics and fanzines into the public space. This year’s program, under the slogan “Use the Hammer,” invites creative action in an emergency. 

Filmmaker Lucrecia Martel, sociologist Rita Segato, writer and historian Sylvia Saítta and the National Children’s Choir are among the participants. Workshops, film screenings, live performances and exhibitions round out the fair, a cultural and political initiative driven by independent collectives and a public vocational school. The event presents books as “living, organic and mutant” objects that spark connections, build networks and thrive within self-managed ecosystems.

FOOD Meat & Fire Oct. 10–12, noon to midnight
Hipódromo de Palermo (Av. del Libertador 4101)
Admission: Tickets at meatandfire.org and at the box office

Meat & Fire, the international festival of meat and open-fire cooking born in Barcelona in 2023, arrives in Buenos Aires for its first local edition. The three-day event will bring more than 30 international grill masters and chefs to 20,000 square meters of food stalls, tasting areas, live music, a producers’ market and cooking demonstrations. 

Argentine participants include Pablo Rivero of Don Julio, Juan Gaffuri of Elena, Agustín Conde of Berria by Sagardi, Sebastián Cardamoni of Fogón Asado and Germán Sitz of La Carnicería. International guests include chefs from Italy, Ecuador and Spain, including one-Michelin-starred Hideki Matsuhisa of Koy Shunka in Barcelona.

Vermouth + Secret Live Music Night by Las Argies Oct. 2, 7–11 p.m.
Varela Varelita (Av. Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz 2102)
Tickets: from US$40 / AR$50,000 with prior registration online

Start the evening with vermouth and a picadita at Varela Varelita, the old-school bar that somehow became cool without trying. At 8 p.m., the group heads to a secret venue for an intimate live-music session featuring Argentine artists. 

The location is revealed only to ticket holders, adding a little mystery to the night. Phones stay away while guests sit on the floor and listen. Tickets include vermouth, picadita and entry to the secret gig.

Veggie parrilla SAMPA turns 7 Sept. 29–Oct. 3
SAMPA (Av. Raúl Scalabrini Ortiz 769)

Vegetarian grill SAMPA celebrates its seventh anniversary with a weeklong trip down memory lane. From Tuesday through Saturday, the Villa Crespo restaurant will bring back dishes from the menu it launched with in 2019, along with recipes that have evolved over the years and longtime classics that remain part of its identity. 

Vinyl records will provide the soundtrack throughout the week, with anniversary celebrations running through Saturday. 

MUSIC Robbie Williams October 1, 2 and 4, 9 p.m.
Movistar Arena (Humboldt 450)
Admission AR$160,000

Former Take That singer has had a successful solo career since 1997 and is now considered a pop icon with a charismatic stage presence, witty personality and distinctive voice.

Leonard Cohen’s Songs September 30, 9 p.m.
La Trastienda (Balcarce 460)
Admission AR$30,000-45,000

Since 2020, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs’ keyboard player Mario Siperman and producer Gustavo Roca have been revisiting Leonard Cohen’s songbook with Spanish versions sung by special guests from the rock, pop, tango and folklore genres. Now, after three albums, they once again perform live, ten years after Cohen’s passing. 

Singers include Cucuza Castiello, Nito Mestre, Richard Coleman, Juan Subirá, Ariel Minimal, Daniela Herrero and Claudio Kleiman.

Albert Pla & The Surprise Band September 30, 9 p.m.
Niceto Club (Niceto Vega 5510)
Admission AR$60,000

The unclassifiable Catalan artist returns to Buenos Aires with “Rumbagenarios.” A celebrated singer-songwriter, actor, poet, writer and performer, Pla crosses rock, cabaret, rumba and performance art, using innocence as a vehicle for provocation.

Lindsay Stirling September 30, 4 p.m. and 8.30 p.m.
Gran Rex Theater (Av. Corrientes 857)
Admission AR$ 57,000-218,500 (VIP Meet & Greet AR$547,000)

Renowned for her pop songs and her skill as an electronic violinist, dancer, and performer, this American singer has 4.2 million fans in Instagram and tours all around the world with sold-out shows of her new “Duality Tour.”