Last Saturday, December 7th, an excellent “Mate Day” was celebrated with the Mate BA, an eight-hour show in the middle of Avenida de Mayo, along five blocks and with the heart at 853, where the Mate Museum was officially inaugurated. A party that he organized together with the Ministry of Economic Development of the City of Buenos Aires, which brought together ten thousand people who enjoyed tastings by thirty yerba mate producers from Misiones and other entrepreneurs of mate shops and a booming yerba mate gastronomy.
A live experience for lovers of the national infusion, whose date is celebrated on November 30th. The seven day wait was worth it as the weather was unbeatable for walking and enjoying cultural activities. Minutes after 11 a.m., the welcoming words to Mate BA were interrupted by the voice of Alberto Plaza (the largest Argentine mate collector) after the military band of the 1st Patricios Regiment sang the national anthem. In return, the emotional ribbon cutting that opened and consolidated the Mate Museum as a cultural space.
On this day, one hundred dance couples from the Institute of Folk Arts performed under the direction of Maestro José Luis Montoya, whose birthday was on the same day. The audience watched each show live from the street, on foot or sitting on chairs or grass bales reminiscent of the mountains where yerba mate is born. In short, the traditional avenue was a quaint and friendly place with tastings and queues to enter the museum, with free entry. There you can discover the history of mate and its traditions everywhere. Inside, on the ground floor, other live shows were also enjoyed with an excellent pianist, live tangos and a musician with his huge harp.
Apart from the parameters of a good mate such as the leaf, the stick and the powder, the packaging or the place where the harvest takes place, each of the mate producers can proudly say that they were present at the first edition of an event that was worth it after the postponement due to rain on November 30th – a date legally declared National Mate Day in the country. The doors of the Mate Museum are open every day, including public holidays, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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