Outings and excursions · Chos Malal
National Goat, Dance and Song Festival: Chos Malal celebrates northern Neuquén
Photos: Gobierno del Neuquén · Wikimedia Commons
Three nights of folk music, ballets, rodeo and roast goat every November in Chos Malal, the festival’s permanent national home.
Every November, Chos Malal, in northern Neuquén, celebrates the goat kid, the main livestock of the area, and the country people who raise it. The National Goat, Dance and Song Festival brings together three nights of music and dance, rodeo and gaucho skills, crafts and, of course, roast goat.
A festival born from a dance group
The festival began in 1988, an initiative of the Centenario folk group, formed the year before for the city’s hundredth anniversary. The idea was to honor the work of country men and women, the goat, the tonada and the cueca, rodeo riding and transhumance: the herders’ journey with their animals between winter and summer pastures. In 2004 it was declared a national festival, and Law 27,395, of 2017, made Chos Malal its permanent national home and added it to the National Tourism Calendar. The «Chivito Criollo del Norte Neuquino» has a Designation of Origin.
What to see and do
- Nights of shows on the main stage, with national, regional and local artists, ballets and folk dance performances.
- Rodeo riding and gaucho skills.
- A crafts fair.
- Roast goat, the dish of the festival.
- Hikes on the hills around town, such as Cerro de la Virgen.
When it takes place
It is held in November, as set by law. The 18th edition will be on Friday 20, Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November 2026: on Friday LBC, Eugenia Quevedo and Q’ Lokura perform; on Saturday, Los Palmeras, Indio Lucio Rojas and Sentimiento Norteño; and on Sunday, Destino San Javier and Dúo Roze, along with artists from the region and popular singers from Chos Malal. There is an admission fee and tickets are sold in advance.
See accommodation in Chos Malal.
Getting there
Chos Malal lies on national route 40, about 215 km north of Zapala; at its entrance stands the landmark of the midpoint of Route 40. The nearest airport with scheduled flights is in the city of Neuquén, from where you continue by road. In town, it is worth climbing to the tower of the Fuerte IV División, from the days when Chos Malal was the first capital of Neuquén.
