SPANISH MINDSET

Here you will find everything you need to know about nightlife in Argentina, and more specifically, in Buenos Aires. So if you’re coming here to Argentina, you need to know everything I’m about to tell you right now.

The first thing you need to know about nightlife in Argentina is that Argentinians are, by nature, night owls. 90% of Argentinians are night people — that is, we love the night and spend most of our time during nighttime. It’s very common for all Argentinians to meet up at night. Everyone gets together at night — for example, between 9 PM and midnight, sometimes even later depending on whether it’s a party or not. People meet up to celebrate, hang out (or as we say here, boludear), catch up with friends, chat, have a bite to eat, etc. That’s super common.

Also, Argentinians — basically all of us or 90% — go to bed very, very late compared to other countries in the Americas or in Europe. We tend to stay up quite late, deep into the night. A common bedtime for an Argentinian is between 10 PM and midnight. Of course, this depends on whether someone has to work at 4, 5, or 6 in the morning, but still, even many people who work at that time go to bed late anyway, because it’s sort of a cultural thing.

So, what’s the main reason for this? Well, we could say that one of the biggest reasons is that Argentinians also eat dinner quite late. When we eat something at night, it’s usually between 9 and 12 at night, roughly. That’s when we have our dinner. And we also tend to eat heavy meals at night. So, that takes time to digest, you could say — but mainly, it’s because we eat very late.

If you’re in the U.S., England, Australia, Germany, etc., and you’re used to having dinner around 7 PM, well here in Argentina, we don’t even start eating until 9 or 10 PM, and we go to bed right after eating, or a little later. That’s one of the main reasons why Argentine nightlife is the way it is.

If you go out to dinner at your usual time — let’s say 6 or 7 PM — you won’t find anyone at that restaurant or bar, because that’s not our dinner time. We eat much later, after 9 PM.

Okay, and at that time, what kind of people will you find? You might see people drinking coffee, or maybe even mate — though not really, because most restaurants don’t serve mate. Mostly, you’ll find people having a snack, what we call merienda. That’s our snack time, usually between 5 and 7 PM.

And remember, merienda isn’t uniquely Argentine — it comes from Europe, from Spain. Spain also has merienda, and so do we here in Argentina, and in many parts of Latin America. A funny nickname we use for merienda is “mate time,” as a joke. It’s not the official name, but yeah, we also say it like that sometimes.

Now, if you’re young, or someone who likes to go out at night — to nightclubs, or clubs as you say in English — or if you just like to party, as we say here, salir de joda, there’s something super interesting: Argentinians go out very, very late. It’s totally normal for young people my age (say 20-something) to meet up at a friend’s house around midnight or 1 AM, and then leave for the club at 1 AM or later. And usually, people come back from the club around 5 to 7 in the morning. That’s the usual schedule.

So, if you’re out on a Friday, Saturday, or even Sunday — if a club is open on a Sunday — you’ll see people coming back from the club around 6 or 7 AM. For example, if you start your day in Buenos Aires, in neighborhoods like Palermo or Recoleta, and you go to the gym or somewhere at 6 AM, you’ll literally bump into people who are just getting out of the club.

That’s normal here, and it might be a cultural shock. You’ll be like, “Wow, do people in Argentina not work? Do they just love to party?” And yes, the truth is… yeah, kind of.

And it’s not just nightclubs — it’s the same with all types of Argentine parties. Big events like Christmas, birthdays, graduations, national holidays, football championships, sports events — Argentinians usually celebrate them by gathering with friends, family, and throwing a party. And these parties usually start between 5 and 9 PM, sometimes even at 10 PM. And if it’s Christmas, New Year’s, birthdays, graduations, or any major celebration, that party might go on until 5, 6, or 7 in the morning — or until whenever the host feels like it.

That’s a very Argentine phrase — hasta que se le cante. It means “until they feel like it.” If you didn’t know it, “lo que se me cante,” “lo que se te cante,” “lo que se le cante” means “whatever that person feels like.” It’s a very Argentine idiom — super common and pretty informal, but also famous.

So basically, our parties go deep into the night, and they end whenever the host or the family wants them to end.

You’ll see this when you’re here in the city. And if you travel a bit more, maybe to the countryside or smaller towns, you’ll still find people partying at 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 in the morning — and it’s not just young people, it might be whole families of adults. You’ll see everyone dancing — maybe to cuarteto, rock, cumbia, or something like that. Usually it’s cuarteto or cumbia. It’ll be a very different experience for you — because in many countries, this doesn’t happen. But here in Argentina, it does. Celebrating is very important to us. We love to have fun, to party, and cause some quilombo (chaos, noise, commotion).

Well, this was another episode of Argento Podcast, a podcast to learn Argentine Spanish, learn local slang, learn about the culture, and discover everything about Argentina in one podcast — all in Argentine Spanish.

So, if you want to keep learning Spanish and improve your Argentine Spanish to come here and talk with tons of people, you need to join my Telegram group right now. You’ll find tons of info about Argentina, and you’ll be able to chat with me, ask me any questions you want, and talk with the other members, You’ll get tips for learning Argentine Spanish — all absolutely free.

Join now, che!

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