Rock Aficionados Flock to Argentina's 'Mini Woodstock' Festival

Rock music aficionados are flocking to the 18th annual Cosquin Rock Festival as Argentina turns its amps up to 11 with more than 200 artists and thousands of spectators descending from across Latin America.   

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At least 150 bands are jamming for two straight days, February 10 and 11, with headlining musicians arriving from Colombia, Peru, Chile and Uruguay.

"We are also opening the door to artists from Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay. That shows an interesting picture of what happens in Latin American rock," said Jose Palazzo, the festival's founder, organizer and producer.

Topping the bill are Creedence Clearwater Revisited, The Offspring, Las Pelotas, Ciro and Los Persas, Skay, Guasones, Paranoid Mice, Resident, Estelares, Los Pericos, Los Cafres, Gondwana, Viticus, Carajo, and Massacre.

"It is a point of pride that a festival that was born with the name of a river in a mountain range of Cordoba, back in 2001, today is traveling through Latin America and has become a fixed event in Guadalajara, Bogota and Lima," said Palazzo.

Each genre gets its own venue in the valley, which covers nine hectares, including stages dedicated to blues, reggae, heavy metal, indie and local musicians.

Festivalgoers can also enjoy gastronomy, parkour, rock climbing, motocross, aerial acrobatics, skating events and freestyle soccer.

"Cosquin Rock is not only the festival that happens inside the venue, but what happens around," Palazzo said. The event has three mainstays, he said: health, safety and soul-searching.

"The Cosquin is like a mini Woodstock: for people just to go two days to Cordoba, the mountains are healing – at least for me."

For those unable to make the trip into the mountainous region, the event is being livestreamed by Cablevision Flow and HD.