The Carlos Gardel Tango Festival

The Story

The Carlos Gardel Tango Festival, USA, founded by Alfie Martin, celebrates the music and the man whose name is synonymous with Tango, Carlos Gardel. The Festival was originated to commemorate the Tango and the artist who was the first to articulate the essence and character of Tango. He was the originator of the Tango song. He was its spokesman. He brought it to the people.

The Carlos Gardel Tango Festival perpetuates the living spirit of Carlos Gardel and his contributions to the Tango. It is Alfie Martin’s genuine understanding of Carlos Gardel, the myth, the icon, his identification with the common man that brings this Festival its authenticity and continued success. The Carlos Gardel Tango Festival celebrates the deeply rooted and cherished Tango tradition.

The Carlos Gardel Tango Festival is held yearly in the USA. Over forty of the world’s top Tango artists - dancers, singers and musicians - come together to perform in the tradition of the Tango legacy for thousands of devotees in attendance. They come in the spirit of the man who more than 80 years ago dared to tell the Tango story himself, through dance, song and music.

With the support of Teatro de las Artes, gifted artists and a professional production team, the creative vision of Alfie Martin, producer and director of The Carlos Gardel Tango Festival, brings talent from all over the world to make this distinguished annual event possible.

Carlos Gardel, (born Charles Romuald Gardes) was born on December 11, 1890 in the heart of the people. His mother, Berthe Gardes, took him to Argentina when he was just two years old. The story is familiar: Carlos Gardel’s childhood was spent in tenement housing and on the streets. By the time he was 16 he had stopped going to school and devoted his life to music and singing - performing in cafes, restaurants and even political gatherings. His repertoire at this time consisted of folk songs and Creole milongas. He was the first to put lyrics to Tango. The song, “Mi Noche Triste”, which he performed against the well intentioned advice of his friends, was an instant hit, sending his audience into a wild frenzy. This marked the beginning of a rich legacy of Tango history. Carlos Gardel went on to write many hundreds of songs in this idiom. Record companies couldn’t get enough.

Carlos Gardel’s music embraced the joy, the tragedy, the depth and the passions of life through the people’s music, the Tango. He was the first to embody its essence - the first to deliver it to the masses, to all people regardless of their station in life. Through Tango song, he captured the heart beat of the people. He communicated the deep emotional spirit of Tango. He sang the tales of love, of jealousy and passion, of life itself. His record sales catapulted him to international fame. He lived in, belonged to and loved Uruguay, Argentina, France, Spain, Columbia and United States. He traveled throughout Latin America and Europe where everyone, rich and poor alike, recognized and embraced his sophisticated and sensitive presentation of Tango. They recognized him as their own. He was able to introduce to people of diverse cultures and backgrounds an universal and emotional thread in which every individual recognized himself.

Carlos Gardel was blessed with an unusual charisma and finely-tuned sensibility that seemed to epitomize the true spirit and evolution of the Tango. His modesty, humility and generosity engaged everyone who met him. He was at the same time both shy and powerful.  Women loved him. They followed him. He was a true romantic. He believed in love. But he never found the one ‘woman of his heart’. It was as though he was to forever belong to the people. His eternal smile reminds us of that.