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68°F / 20°C
(Scattered Clouds. Mild.)
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Viña del Mar was, from its very beginnings, the preferred vacation spot for the wealthy families who had made their fortunes as shipping merchants in neighboring Valparaíso, or as owners of the saltpeter mines in the north of the country. It was these families that spurred the creation of museums, art galleries and other places of art and entertainment in the city.
In the city center, facing Plaza Vergara, is the ornate Municipal Theater, a grandiose construction that was partly funded by the federal government in the 1930s. Here, a variety of cultural events take place such as classical music concerts organized by the music departments of regional universities, the Educational Video Festival in July, and the International Cinema Festival in October. Touring theater companies occasionally take the stage, as do dance troupes offering a range of classical and folk performances. There are even classical music contests, such as that organized by the Luis Sigall Institute every November, and featuring performers of a specific instrument.
Close to the Municipal Theater, in a shopping mall that opens onto the same square, is the city’s principal art-house cinema, and there is normally a notice-board placed in the gallery entrance advertising the current program.
Crossing the railway track, you come to the Quinta Vergara Park which houses, among other things, a huge amphitheater. The venue is renowned in Chile as the site, each February, of the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, a South American song contest that brings together heartthrob Latin stars like Enrique Iglesias, local folk groups, occasional North American crooners, and now and then, a British pop band. Sting and the Police played here once in the 1980´s, and Duran Duran made an appearance in 1999 as part of their come-back tour. The amphitheater also hosts classical music concerts, a summer season of "Cinema under the Stars", and other popular music events.
In the park gardens of the Quinta Vergara there is also the annual International Handicraft Fair, with participating artisans from all over South America. The park even has a School of Fine Arts, located in the Palacio Vergara, as vibrant as any of its counterparts in London, Paris or New York. There is a public exhibition of works by alumni every January. The Fine Arts school shares its building, appropriately enough, with the Fine Arts Museum, that has a permanent display of works by Chilean and international painters from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Back in the central part of the city, following Libertad Avenue, there are various points of interest from a cultural point of view. The local girl’s school hosts an International Book Fair each year, and a block further up is the Carrasco Palace, which accommodates a library and the city's cultural center, the latter having hosted exhibitions of such luminaries as Miró and Picasso. Close to the Palace are the Fonck Foundation’s Archaeological Museum dedicated to findings on Easter Island.
The Rioja Palace on Avenida Quillota often presents shows and exhibitions created by the cultural departments of regional universities, such as the University of Playa Ancha, which specializes in sciences and education. Within the Palace there is also a small, informal arts cinema and café.
The Sausalito Lagoon park on the eastern side of Viña del Mar, a haven for water-skiing, rowing and other water-sports, is venue for the independence celebrations in September. There is also a stadium in the Sausalito park that has hosted big-name stars such as aging rockers Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.
Close to Sausalito and going down along Avenida Los Castaños, is the Sporting Club race-track, which holds an annual Derby. The Club’s central oval is also used for pop concerts by national and international Latin stars.
Following the coast to another part of Viña, you can find the Wulff Castle with a permanent exhibition of local maritime history, and objects once belonging to the writer Salvador Reyes. Further up the coast, on the other side of the Marga-Marga estuary, is Perú Avenue, where summer is given an explosive start with a fireworks display. And of course, when describing local entertainment, it would not do to forget the Casino, which not only hosts the Miss Viña Summer beauty pageant, but also all sorts of variety acts in the best Las Vegas pleasure palace tradition.
The principal beaches of Viña del Mar have their own entertainment to offer, including the World Sand Castle Championships, an impressive display of ephemeral architecture. Further north, in June, you can witness the festival of San Pedro in Caleta Higuerillas. The highlight of this occasion is a procession of fishing boats, colorfully decorated, with an image of the town's patron saint prominently on display in the leading vessel.
And finally, the streets themselves of Viña del Mar are alive with entertainment. In Portal Álamos you will see comics, painters and caricaturists, in the Plaza María Luisa Bombal, human statues and theater troupes, and in the center, free concerts of both classical and popular music. To the north, in the parks of Muelle Vergara, there are circus performers.
Formal and informal, Viña del Mar offers a panorama of entertainment throughout the year.
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