San Telmo Fair

San Telmo
The Fair inside: a ceremony that is repeated every Sunday

Since 1970, every Sunday early in the morning a curious ceremony is repeated on the stage of the Plaza Dorrego: trunks, boxes, irons, tables, baskets, are superimposed in a patter that amazes the night owls who lengthen the night with a coffee last minute, and early risers starting the day.

At that time, the San Pedro Telmo Old Things and Antiques Fair begins to take shape, it is built on the cobblestones of the square and repeats a ritual that has become the heart of a neighborhood that beats in a special way on Sundays .



However, being part of the ceremony is not easy.

Having one of the 270 stalls at the San Telmo Fair is difficult, almost exclusive and it is only a possibility that is given to those who meet a series of requirements: it is entered by rigorous lottery as the stalls become free and You must have merchandise prior to the 70s, you cannot leave the position, the holder must always be there and can only have an assistant for two hours, are some of the commitments assumed by the stallholders and that, they affirm, are they strictly respect.

In addition, every three months there is a raffle to change the place that each position occupies in the square.

The organization is in charge of the Museum of the City, creator and continuator of the Fair.

The Fair receives about 20 thousand visitors per Sunday, among which, a high percentage is made up of tourists from all over the world.

Over the years, stallholders have managed to develop a true classification of tourists, according to the profile of their purchases: thus, instead of looking at who buys, the market vendors can establish where a tourist is from, just by seeing what they buy.

The French, elegant by nature, prefer bijou or glasses; the Brazilians, - cheerful and showy - are inclined towards metals and colored objects; Italians, antique jewels and Spaniards, faithful to their past, choose shawls, fans and paintings, brought to the country by their own grandparents.

Another, more stringent classification divides visitors into "shoppers" and "curious".

The former usually know what they are looking for: they visit the Fair in the morning or in the afternoon after comparing prices and evaluating the purchase.

In the middle, the curious stroll during the morning and afternoon, although, at noon, they stop for lunch and go to some of the many restaurants in the surroundings.

After 4 pm, the porteños arrive and, it is said, ask a lot, but buy little.