Hundreds pack Montevideo’s plaza as La Rueda de Candombe caps a breakout run

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Every Monday night in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, hundreds gather around a table in a public square, drawn by the pulse of drums, guitars and voices carrying aloft a centuries-old rhythm.

La Rueda de Candombe began as a casual jam session between friends, but has rapidly evolved into one of Uruguay’s most talked-about musical events, going from local street corners in the capital to the Cannes Film Festival.

“What started as something among friends became visible without us intending it,” said Uruguayan producer Caleb Amado, one of the founders of La Rueda de Candombe.

Sunday’s gathering featured this season’s final performance of Rueda de Candombe at Montevideo’s Plaza de España, bringing together six musicians celebrating candombe — a vibrant musical genre at the heart of this South American country’s identity and one recognized internationally as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

An African tradition central to Uruguay’s identity

In the fall of 2024, Amado and his friend Rolo Fernández traveled to Rio de Janeiro, trading Montevideo’s chill for warm nights in some of the Brazilian city’s most iconic bars. There, they immersed themselves in “rodas” — informal music circles where performers gather around a table to sing and play while standing audiences look on.

Inspired by those gatherings, the pair returned home and formed La Rueda de Candombe with four other musicians.

Like its Brazilian inspiration, the group performs around a table. But the sound is distinctly Uruguayan: drums, guitar and accordion driving the rhythms of candombe, a genre rooted in African traditions brought to the region in the 18th century and now central to Uruguay’s identity. UNESCO has recognized candombe as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In the beginning, nearly a hundred people squeezed into Santa Catalina, a small bar on a quiet corner in Montevideo, to hear them play. Within months, growing crowds pushed the performances into nearby Plaza España. As their popularity took hold, vans filled with tourists began to arrive.

A cultural and political expression

Despite Montevideo’s abundance of public spaces, including a 14-mile-long (22-kilometer) waterfront promenade, street performances are far less common than in cities like Buenos Aires or Rio de Janeiro.

Social media helped amplify the buzz, drawing prominent artists. The group has performed with Uruguayan singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler at Montevideo’s iconic Centenario Stadium and recorded an album. In 2025, they were invited to represent Uruguay at the Cannes Film Festival, which hosts cultural showcases alongside its film program.

Since the 18th century, candombe has remained a vital element of Uruguayan identity. It emerged from Plaza España — the historic landing site where enslaved people from Africa used the beat of the drum to sustain their rituals.

The music is built around three types of drums — chico, repique and piano — and reaches its peak during carnival each February, when dozens of musical troupes called comparsas parade through the streets.

By the mid-20th century, candombe had evolved, blending with jazz and popular music in a style known as “candombe canción.” It became a fixture of social gatherings — much like the Rueda — and also served as a form of cultural and political expression during the 1960s and 1970s.

As the colder months approach, Amado and Fernández plan to stay in Montevideo. The Rueda isn’t slowing down, they say, it is preparing new projects, including expanding into other public squares across the city.

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