The Communities Meeting and National Celebration (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, ''Encuentro y Fiesta Nacional de Colectividades'') is a cultural event celebrated annually in Rosario,

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Santa Fe,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, since 1985. This event showcases the diversity of customs of the many established communities of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

that live in the city and around. It is locally known simply as ''las Colectividades'', and usually held in the middle of spring (the first days of November), though in 2004 it was celebrated in December instead, to avoid overlapping with the Third International Congress of the Spanish Language (held in Rosario in mid-November). Tents, kiosks and several performing stages are set up in the National Flag Park (''Parque Nacional a la Bandera''), a large expanse on the shore of the Paraná River, right opposite the National Flag Memorial. Immigrant communities devote their space to selling typical foods and drinks, as well as other items, or for exhibits. The stages are devoted to the performance of dances and music. The festival is attended every year by tens of thousands of local residents and tourists. In recent years, the ''Colectividades'' were marred by poor organization and abuse on the part of some communities, which in effect turned their spaces into common open-air bars and barbecues. Alcohol abuse by some attenders,

robberies Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, problems with

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

ation and traffic congestion in the area of the festival caused many people to complain or to miss the celebration altogether. In light of this and the recently increased touristic flow into the city, for 2005 the municipal government added special requirements for the communities' exhibits, such as a percentage of space to be devoted to cultural activities and the sale of typical foods only, and a change of the layout. The 2005 celebration was, accordingly, deemed better organized and safer than the previous ones, and attendance during its ten days reached about 1 million.

References

Fiesta de las Colectividades
(in Spanish) Communities Celebration, at the website of Rosario's municipality * La Capital, 14 November 2005
''Cerró Colectividades: visitada por un millón de personas y no llovió''
* Rosario3, 13 November 2006
''Fin de Colectividades, una fiesta en la que todo se multiplica''
{{coord missing, Argentina Cultural festivals in Argentina Culture in Rosario, Santa Fe Tourist attractions in Rosario, Santa Fe Folk festivals in Argentina