Personal Fest is Argentina’s answer to California’s Coachella or England’s Reading. Sponsored by Personal, a wireless service, it featured local bands like No Lo Soporto and international names like Fischerspooner. It also brought in some big names like Chris Cornell, The Happy Mondays, Tego Calderon, and Snoop Dogg.

Snoop Dogg in Buenos Aires? It doesn’t get much better than that for this writer - though not an instant fan of the Dogg man, over the years he’s won me over with a steady stream of hits and antics (”foh shizzle”). At Personal Fest he did not disappoint.

Despite a late start which resulted in an anxious crowd (and rumors of a shooting), Snoop brought the heat - the crowd was with him from his first “Who’s ready to have a good time?” through the entire hour-plus set that included the classics “What’s My Name,” “Murder is the Case,” and “California Love.” The last was dedicated to “My homie Tupac,” and Snoop asked the crowd if there were any Pac fans in the casa. There surely were - I was surprised to see the number of dedicated hip hop fans here in (Gran) Buenos Aires.

Personal Fest 2007 included performances by The Dandy Warhols, B-Real, Coco Rosie, Tego Calderon, and The Gotan Project - the latter of which included a Tango orchestra dressed all in white suits replete with dancers. The outdoor space where Personal Fest was held this year is a country-club-cum-music-venue with a lagoon and booths selling merchandise and snacks. Where else but Buenos Aires can you get freshly squeezed orange juice at a rock concert? Personal was a success, only to be potentially outdone by Creamfields - the big electronic music event of the year held in Punta Del Este.