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Music

Buenos Aires Hosts First Electronic Music Events After Lifting Ban

Dash Berlin, Guy J, and Eelke Kleijn all played the Mandarine Park and Tent venue in the Capital Federal district.
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Buenos Aires held its first major electronic music events this weekend since they were officially made legal again in late January, drawing a total estimated crowd of 8,000 people at two separate concerts. All electronic music festivals had previously been banned in the city by the government last year following the deaths of five people at the Time Warp festival in April, so it was a long-awaited return for the city's club-goers, reports The Bubble.

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The events this weekend included a DJ set by Dutch producer Dash Berlin on Friday, February 17, and a performance by tech house musicians Guy J and Eelke Kleijn the next evening. Both shows took place at the Mandarine Park and Tent venue in the Capital Federal district.

The new legislation permitting electronic music events went into effect on January 23 after being signed in December by Matías Álvarez Dorrego, then-chief of the Government Control Agency, which supervises commercial activity in the city. It mandates stricter security, health, and safety regulations at the events than had previously existed, and requires that music festivals in Buenos Aires must now provide free water. The law also requires there to be police, private security, and fire services on hand, among other stipulations.

Following the tragedy at Time Warp, local Buenos Aires government began what has been described as an "outright" war against electronic music in the city.

As of mid-January, government authorization of the events at Mandarine this coming weekend was still pending. Other upcoming events at the venue include a scheduled March 18 appearance by John Digweed and an April 8 engagement with Armin van Buuren.

While Buenos Aires has lifted its ban, the Argentinian city of Mar Del Plata banned all electronic music events last month.

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