MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur's cultural festivals of 2024

Though primarily functioning as an economic and currency union, the trade bloc is also part of a wider push to recognise and celebrate diversity in the region.

Whether you are local to Mercosur or traveling to the area, you'll know that Mercosur is rich in diversity. So, let's take a look at some of the festivals that celebrate Mercosur's unique culture, and why these festivals continue to be popular.

Demand for Diverse Range of Entertainment in Mercosur

Mercosur is an acronym for Mercado Común del Sur or the Southern Common Market in Latin America. Though primarily functioning as an economic and currency union, the trade bloc is also part of a wider push to recognise and celebrate diversity in the region.

This push toward diversity is seen throughout the globe, particularly as more tourists and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of how diverse the world actually is. Due to this, there is an increasing demand for varied online entertainment options.

Just one area where this can be seen is online casinos. Online casino companies are just one example of platforms that cater to this customer demand for culturally diverse entertainment options, offering online casino games that explore themes from a wide range of cultures. For example, The Secret of Machu Picchu explores the story behind the iconic ancient Inca monument, Book of Vikings looks at Norse mythology, Eye of Horus investigates the pyramids of Egypt, and the Age of Gods series dives into the mythology of ancient Greece.

With such a demand for a broad range of culturally-inspired entertainment, Mercosur has developed a wide range of cultural festivals to celebrate diversity. Here are just a few of these festivals to watch out for in 2024.

Mercosur Film Festival

May 2023 marked the first ever Mercosur Film Festival, hosted across Argentina, which was organised by the Ministry of Culture of Argentina in collaboration with the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts and the Specialized Meeting of Audiovisual Authorities of Mercosur.

The festival is said to be a part of a wider cultural initiative to encourage home-grown filmmakers in the Mercosur area.

Other Film Festivals

Though it’s unclear if the official Mercosur Film Festival will make an appearance in 2024, film buffs could check out the Cine del Mar Film Festival in Punta del Este, Uruguay. What first began as a Mercosur film festival has grown to be an internationally recognised event celebrating all cultures. The 17th Cine de Mar Film Festival will run between 10th and 14th July 2024.

Another to take a look at is the Festival Internacional de Cinema Florianópolis Audiovisual Mercosul. The festival is organised by Associação Cultural Panvision and has run for 27 years. The official dates for 2024 have yet to be released, but it typically runs from the end of September to the end of October.

Mercosur Biennial

The 14th Mercosur Biennial art exhibition is set to take place in September 2024, hosted in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Often considered one of the most diverse cities in Latin America, this is the perfect location for such a mainstay of Mercosur culture. In this festival, it is not just the exhibitions that celebrate diversity - the exhibition circuit has been designed for the public to understand the diversity and dynamic of the city itself.

Raphael Fonseca is leading the Biennial as the chief curator, along with joint curators Tiago Sant'Anna and Yina Jiménez Suriel.

As you can see, the cultural diversity of Mercosur paired with the worldwide demand for a broader range of entertainment for different audiences has driven and shaped the festivals in Mercosur. All that's left to do is enjoy and celebrate the diversity the region has to offer.