The holiday season in Chile ranges from December to March. One of the best places in Chile to enjoy the summer is, precisely, the southern region of the country. Cities such as Concepción, Temuco, Puerto Montt, and their neighboring areas offer a pleasant weather and a series of events and activities for all types of travelers to southern Chile.
Concepción and its surrounding towns are Chile’s second largest metropolitan area after Santiago. This is not only an important industrial, academic and seafaring area. The city is the homeland of iconic rock and pop bands. In that regard, “Conce” is Chile’s very own Liverpool.
For that reason, on summer time the city and its neighboring towns have a series of concerts in venues like Casa de Salud and El Averno with live music every weekend, and the upcoming Rock en Conce festival in March 3-4th, with significant international names like Primal Scream, Fito Páez, and Javiera Mena.
This city was not only Chile’s border between the Spanish colonizers and the Mapuche native peoples. It is also the home for a rich mix of ancient indigenous traditions and the cultural heritage of German and Spanish immigrants.
One of the ways to seize this diversity is through the food. The Araucanía region holds a series of festivals and fairs like Saavedra’s Inter-Regional Food Fair and Carahue’s Gastronomic Fair in February to promote the variety of local cuisine. You can enjoy a wide variety of Mapuche spices across the room from German recipes for chocolate.
The city of Valdivia is one of the most iconic places in southern Chile. Unlike any other city in Chile, the Calle Calle river that runs through is the backbone that gives life to this city. Valdivia grew around dockyards and trade activities across those streams. The city has a strong German heritage, its architecture, tasty delicatessen, and a wide range of beers, are an excellent example of it.
A landmark of this city, during the summer, is the Noche Valdiviana next February 24th. This night its the highlight for an entire week of celebrations for its anniversary with a nighttime of fireworks, lights and a parade of ships, yachts, and boats.
This iconic port marks the end of the long valleys of Chile and serves as a gateway to a range of islands, channels, and fjords that stretch to Cape Horn, at the tip of South America. It also serves as an entry to the rich traditions and architecture that surround the island of Chiloé.
The region holds every summer the so-called “Trail of Traditions”, a variety of traditional folk festivals and parties with traditional food, singing, games, arts, and crafts in several towns around the Puerto Montt area, like the ones in Piedra Azul (February 17-18th) and Chinquihue (February 24-25th).
Around 40 kilometers north of Puerto Montt, the town of Frutillar could be easily mistaken as a town in the Black Forest of Germany.
Each summer, the city holds a massive cultural event called the Frutillar Musical Weeks, a festival of folk, classical and popular music from across the globe, encompassing from symphony orchestras, guitar recitals and chorus groups. But the celebration doesn’t stop here, you can enjoy all year round, and if you are already looking for an Easter retreat, the Easter Festival will run from the 29th to the 31st of March this year.
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