A giant Tower of Babel made with 30,000 books, created by renowned Argentine pop artists Marta Minujin, will be inaugurated on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011, at Plaza San Martin.

This work, one of the main activities of the celebration of the nomination of Buenos Aires as World Book Capital 2011, consists of a spiral metallic structure, 28 meters high, covered by 30,000 books in different languages, that have been donated by individuals from the city of Buenos Aires, and embassies, delegations and associations from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Azerbaiyán, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, United States, Slovenia, Spain, France, Philipines, Finland, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Vasque Country, Pakistan, Perú, Poland, Czek Republic, Russia, Great Britain, Siria, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Uruguay, Xunta de Galicia, and a delegation from Catalunya.

Visitors will be invited to climb the 7 floors of the Tower in groups of 100 people, while listening to a soundtrack created by Marta Minujin, based on the word "book" pronounced in all languages. The base of the Tower is made up of literature, geography and history books from around the world. The first and second levels are dedicated to American works, the third and fourth to Europe, and fifth and sixth to Asia.
On June 28th, the last day of the exhibition, visitors will be able to pick up a book of their choice and take it home. The rest will make up the first multi-lingual library in Buenos Aires.

Location: Plaza San Martin, Av. Santa Fe and Maipu
Dates: May 11th to June 28th, 2011
Opening hours: 10am to 10pm
Free entrance

Argentina will be hosting Kazakhstan for the Quarterfinals of the Davis Cup 2011 at the Estadio Parque Roca in Buenos Aires on July 7, 8, and 9, 2011.
Argentina are playing in the World Group quarterfinals for the tenth straight year, which is the best ongoing run of any nation in Davis Cup.
Argentina and Kazakhstan are meeting for the first time.

The dates and times of the matches are: Thursday 7th, 10:00 am; Friday 8th, 11:00 am, Saturday 9th, 10:00 am.

Team nominations:
Argentina: Juan Martín del Potro, Juan Ignacio Chela, Juan Monaco, Eduardo Shwank
Kazakhstan: Andrey Golubev, Mikhail Kukushkin, Yuriy Schukin, Evgeny Korolev

Location: Estadio Parque Roca. Av. Roca y Escalada, Buenos Aires.
Tickets are on sale at Ticketek Argentina website.
More information: Davis Cup official website.

The V International Auto Show Buenos Aires (5to Salon Internacional del Automovil Buenos Aires 2011) will take place from June 17 to June 26, 2011 at La Rural Exhibition Center.

The auto Show brings together eleven automotive factories established in the country, with all their brands, and importers with a presence in Argentina, all presenting latest world arrivals.

Around 1,200,000 people have attended the first four editions and this time it is expected to exceed half a million visitors

As in previous years, the Auto Show will be held in La Rural Buenos Aires, on a floor area to exceed 40,000 m² of exhibition occupying the blue, green, yellow and ocher pavilions plus an outdoor sector.

Attractions: 

Location: La Rural Exhibition Center - Av. Santa Fe 4201 – Plaza Italia

Opening hours: Friday 17 to Sunday June 26, 2011 from 12:00pm to 10:00pm

Entry fee: AR$ 30 (Children under 7 free).

On Saturday, June 11, 2011, Club Aleman de Equitacion (German Riding Club) presents the 37th Derby General San Martin, with the participation of national and international riders. The Derby General San Martin is an annual show jumping competition that started in 1975, becoming one of the most important events in the calendar of Argentine equestrian activities.

The Derby courses, originally designed by Ronald Mulhall, are ruled by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) due to the demanding technical skills required, where top level horses and riders must complete a long course that includes natural slopes and varied obstacles.

The program of activities includes:

* Female Polo Exhibition

* Parade of riders and carriages

* Dressage and vaulting exhibition

* Carriages and riders race (combined course)

* Entertainment for kids (clowns, playground)

* Granaderos a Caballo Parade and Fanfarria Alto Peru

Date: June 11, 2011. From 2.00 PM.

Location: Club Aleman de Equitacion. Av. Dorrego 4045 (between Figueroa Alcorta & Av. Lugones).

Free entrance

The Subsecretary of Sports of the City of Buenos Aires organizes the the event “Sporst Day at the Obelisco” that will take place on Saturday, June 25, 2011, from 2.00 pm, on Av. 9 de Julio, between Corrientes and Av. de Mayo.

The public will have the opportunity to enjoy and participate in many free activities, like demonstrations and clinics of beach tennis, volley ball, basketball, rugby, netball, hockey, rowing, sumo, martial arts, cycling, roller blading, longboard, among others.

The activity "Buenos Aires Baila" (Buenos Aires dances) will start at 2:30 pm, followed by a friendly soccer match between historic figures from River and Boca.

At 5:00 pm Silvio Velo, captain of "Los Murcielagos", the national soccer team for the blind, will offer an exhibition, and the event will end with a night roller-blade circuit.

Over 100 first class companies will showcase their products at the Expo Cuisine&Vins 2011, the 18th edition of the wine exhibition organized by Cuisine&Vins Magazine, where visitors have the chance to taste some of the best wines produced in Argentina.

New wineries, along with the most traditional ones, present their premium labels, talks and tastings by enologists and wine makers. There will also be stands dedicated to spirits, cigars, luxury resorts, delikatessen products, crafts from all over the country, as well as the new flavors of the most outstanding restaurants of the moment. The latest technological releases will also be present at the expo.

Location: Palacio Paz. Santa Fe 750, Plaza San Martin, Buenos Aires
Dates: June 8, 9, and 10,  2011

Opening hours: 5 pm to 11 pm
Entry fee: 

General: AR$ 80, includes a complimentary tasting cup.

General + Premium Wines sector: AR$ 150, includes a complimentary tasting cup.

Tickets on sale at the venue.

More info: Expo Cuisine&Vins website.

Puma Urban Art 2011 is the meeting point for the best national and international urban artists. An original event, dedicated to contemporary art and the new trends on street art around the world, that will take place on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 of May, 2011, at Centro Cultural Recoleta.

This fourth edition of the Festival will feature the presence of national and international artists, like British sculptor and painter D*Face, aka Dean Stockton, who will paint live in a way never seen before; Mark Dean Veca (USA) creator of large scale installations about surreal cartoon characters and psychedelic landscapes; Frank Kozik (USA), specialist in rock posters and design of vinyl toys; among many others.

One of the features this year will be the projection of films and documentaries related to the Urban Art movement, including the film Exit Through The Gift Shop, from 2010, the first film/documentary by British artist Banksy, as a premiere in Argentina; and short films by D*Face.

Exhibitions of national and international works; graffiti 3D; panel talks; national bands like El Chavez, No Lo Soporto, Dietrich, Maxi Trusso, Mujik, Ovnis, Manta Raya, Go Neko, Los Lenguas, Fantasmagoria, Coiffeur and Nairobi; live painting; conferences; pool, darts, table football, are some of the activities programmed for the event.

Location: Centro Cultural Recole. Junin 1930.

Dates and Hours: May 28 and 29, 2011 - 1 pm till midnight.

Free entrance. Limited capacity

The annual show jumping competition Gran Premio Sol de Mayo, will take place between May 26th and 29th of 2011, at Club Hipico Argentino, with the participation of the best national and international riders from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. This is one of the most important tournaments of the annual show jumping calendar in Argentina.

The two main events will be the "International Preliminary" for the World Cup Competition, on May 27th, and the "Gran Premio Sol de Mayo" (1.5m), that will take place on Sunday, May 29th, from 2:00 pm. 

There will be activities for the whole family, like the presence of marching bands, a show by tenors, vaulting exhibitions, free pony rides.

Location: Club Hipico Argentino. Av. Figueroa Alcorta 7285
Dates and Hours: May 26, 27, 28, 29: 8 am to 6 pm
Free entrance every day. Not suspended for rain.

The Argentine national Rugby team, Los Pumas, will meet the French team Barbarians on a friendly match on June 4th, 2011, 4.00 pm, at Club Atletico Independiente Stadium, in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires.

This match has been organized by the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR).
The team of Los Pumas will be made up of 14 of the players from Pampas XV, the Argentine team champion of the Vodacom Cup 2011 in South Africa. The coach, Santiago Phelan, has also included some of the historic figures of the national team, like Felipe Contepomi, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Juan Leguizamón, Rodrigo Roncero y Martín Scelzo, among others, who obtained the 3rd place in the 2007 World Cup.
The French team will be comprised of some of the best players in the French rugby league.
Tickets are on sale through www.tuentrada.com

The Gran Premio 25 de Mayo, one of the most important classic races in the Argentine horse racing calendar, will take place next Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 at Hipodromo de San Isidro, from 1:00 PM.

The journey, that will be made up of 18 races, starts at 1:00 pm. The Great Prize (Gran Premio 25 de Mayo) race, run on a distance of 2400 meters on grass track, will take place at 5:40 pm.
During the day there will be activities for the whole family, including:

Entrance is free of charge. Click here to download and print the free invitation for 4 people for Tribuna Paddok.

Access Hipodromo de San Isidro:

Av. Marquez & Av. Santa Fe, San Isidro

Rotonda Av. Marquez & Av. Fleming

The great Canadian circus company Les 7 doigts de la main comes to Argentina to present its show "Casa de Nadie" (Nobody's home) on Saturday, May 28th, 2011, at 7:30 pm.

8,000 chairs will be placed in front of the stage that will be mounted at the Obelisk, Av. 9 de Julio and Av. Corrientes.

This show, that was specially conceived to be presented at the Obelisco, presents 11 international circus artists under the direction of Gypsy Snider, with the concept that the world is everybody's home.

The event will be free of charge.

Feria PuroDiseño is a space where design is the main protagonist. The goal of Feria PuroDiseño is to accompany and to promote this sector of the Argentine industry, as well as each and every one of its designers, as a platform for the promotion of local and international design and the stimulation to regional creativity.

This new edition of Feria PuroDiseño, from May 19th to May 25th , 2011, at the Pabellón Amarillo in La Rural, dedicated to "color", will exhibit the avant-garde works of over 250 designers in the fields of clothing, accessories, contemporary jewelry, equipment, objects, digital design, graphic design, contemporary craftsmanship, textile development, and lighting.

The Fair features different thematic spaces:

Dates: May 19 - 25, 2011
Location: La Rural, Pabellon Amarillo. Av.Sarmiento 2704
Feria PuroDiseño website

arteBA Contemporary Art Fair, that will take place on May 19 - 23, 2011, is the most popular cultural event in the city of Buenos Aires and the most important one of its kind in Latin America. arteBA is an art exhibition where art galleries display their best Latin American artworks, offering the general public the chance to come face to face with truly unique collectors’ pieces. It is also an opportunity for the newer art centers from all over the region to present their younger artists and reveal the very latest trends, which are simply absent from other art fairs. Over 800 Latin American artists present their works at this great cultural event.

arteBA Foundation called for the eighth edition of arteBA-Petrobras Prize for the Visual Arts. Each one of the selected projects will be awarded a determined amount of pesos to be used for its realization and exhibition at arteBA `11. Once the winning projects have been exhibited at the Fair, a second, International Prize-Giving Jury will award a (non-acquisitional) Incentive Prize of $ 50,000 pesos. The prize will be granted after the final in situ installation of the works.

A series of conferences will take place every day at 6.00pm at the auditorium.

Location: La Rural Exhibition Center. Blue and Green Pavillions. Av. Sarmiento 2704, Buenos Aires

Dates and hours: May 19 - 23, 2011. 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Entry fees:

General: AR $38

Students and pensioners: AR $20

Children under 12: Free

From May 4th to May 22nd, 2011, the City's Tango Dance Championship 2011 will be held in different "milongas", theaters, and open air locations across the city.

The competition is on the look out for new winning couples in the categories Salon Tango, Milonga and Waltz, who will qualify to participate in the World Tango Dance Championship that will take place in Buenos Aires in August 2011.

The Championship starts on May 4th at La Viruta. The qualifying rounds will continue until Sunday, May 15th at different clubs and milongas of the city, to arrive at semifinals on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 at La Viruta and El Pial. The final will be held on Saturday 21 at the picturesque colonial building of Colegio San José (Azcuénaga 158, Balvanera). And there will be a grand closing with an open air milonga, with a live orchestra and live exhibitions by the winners.

The main events are:

May 4th, 11:30pm: Opening of the Championship at La Viruta, Armenia 1366

May 7th, 6:00pm: Free Open Air Milonga at La Glorieta de Belgrano, 11 de Septiembre and Echeverria. In case of rain it will be moved to May 8th.

May 17th, 6:00pm: Special Milonga with free entrance at Centro Cultural Julian Centeya, Av. San Juan 158

May 21st, 8:00pm: Great Final at Colegio San José, Azcuénaga 158. Free tickets must be picked up on Friday, May 20th, from 12pm to 6pm, at Casa de la Cultura, Av. de Mayo 575.

May 22nd: Closing Milonga at San Juan and Boedo, with live orchestra and exhibitions. Free entrance. 

For the events that are not free of charge, tickets will be on sale at the respective venues.

Click here for more information and complete day by day schedule.