Desmadres. Festival de literatura latinoamericana

What Desmadres. Festival de literatura latinoamericana does

Desmadres is an Argentina-based cultural organization that produces an annual, multi-format festival dedicated to contemporary Latin American literature, founded in 2023 and headquartered in Buenos Aires. Its core offering is an 8-day in-person festival held across multiple university and cultural venues in Buenos Aires, anchored by an academic congress on 21st-century Latin American literature, three annual literary prizes (No Ficción, Lectura, and Escritura en Portuñol), a recurring print and digital magazine (Revista Desmadres), a podcast distributed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, a board game, and a literary escape room. The inaugural 2023 edition drew 3,000 attendees from 24 countries, with 133 academic speakers, 69 readings, 50 illustrators, and submissions totaling 1,601 nonfiction entries, 473 reading entries, and 106 portuñol entries; a second congress was held in November 2024 at UNSAM's Edificio Volta.

The organization's revenue is generated primarily through congress registration fees (aranceles) charged to participants in categories such as students, academics, general public, and international attendees, plus sales of the magazine and publications via an online store on Mercado Shops. Prize money and publication infrastructure for the winners are funded through sponsors and co-organizing partners, including Fondo de Cultura Económica (Argentina) for the nonfiction prize, Editorial Heterónimos / Grupo Heterónimos for the portuñol prize and anthologies, and UNILA and Fundación Cultural de Foz de Iguaçu for the portuñol writing award. The organization is supported by a core venue and academic partner network including Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Universidad Nacional de las Artes, and Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno.

Desmadres has no proprietary technology platform and operates as a lean cultural entity with 27 staff members and 24 volunteers, leveraging standard third-party tools (WordPress, Mercado Shops, Spotify, Apple Podcasts) for its digital presence. It functions as an independent cultural organization in Argentina with no disclosed parent company, funding rounds, or institutional investor ownership.

Name

Desmadres. Festival de literatura latinoamericana

Legal name

Desmadres. Festival de literatura latinoamericana

Website

https://desmadres.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Desmadres is a Buenos Aires-based cultural organization producing an annual multi-format festival of contemporary Latin American literature, combining an academic congress, three literary prizes, a magazine, and a podcast for writers, scholars, and general readers across Latin America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Literary festivals and cultural events

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN), Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK), Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

Headquarters

HQ city

Buenos Aires

HQ country

Argentina

HQ region

Latin America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Event participation fees: The festival generates revenue through congress registration fees (aranceles) charged to participants for attending academic sessions, panels, and workshops.
2. Sales of publications: Revenue is generated from the sale of the Desmadres magazine (Revista Desmadres) and potentially other publications through the festival's Mercado Shops online store.
3. Prize funding from sponsors and partners: Literary prizes (No Ficción, Portuñol writing, Reading) are funded through sponsors including Fondo de Cultura Económica, Universidad Federal de Integración Latino-Americana, and others, with prize money and publication opportunities awarded to winners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Desmadres operates an annual multi-format festival of contemporary Latin American literature held in Buenos Aires, integrating an academic congress, three literary prizes (No Ficción, Escritura en Portuñol, Lectura), a printed magazine, a podcast, and participatory formats such as an escape room and a board game. The organization also publishes anthologies of prize-winning works and distributes them through its own online store, generating revenue through congress registration fees, publication sales, and sponsor-supported prize funding.

Product overview

Desmadres is a festival of Latin American literature offering a diverse portfolio of cultural and literary products including an annual festival (8 days of activities), academic congress, literary awards (Premio de Lectura, Premio de Escritura en Portuñol, Premio de No Ficción), magazine (Revista Desmadres), podcast series, publications (anthologies), escape room, board game, and various public programming activities such as workshops, masterclasses, readings, and art exhibitions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Premio Desmadres de No Ficción: Literary prize for nonfiction works
• Premio Desmadres de Lectura
• Premio Desmadres de escritura en portuñol

Products and services

• Festival Desmadres Annual multi-format festival celebrating contemporary Latin American literature, featuring 8 days of activities including academic congresses, readings, workshops, art exhibitions, awards, and cultural events for writers, scholars, and the general public.
• Congreso Desmadres de literaturas de América Latina Academic congress focusing on 21st-century Latin American literature, held as part of the festival with presentations, panels, and special activities for researchers, professors, and students.
• Premio Desmadres de No Ficción Annual nonfiction literary prize accepting articles, chronicles, essays, biographies, and letters on real events using literary resources, with monetary prizes (ARS 100,000 / 50,000 / 30,000) and publication by Fondo de Cultura Económica.
• Premio Desmadres de Escritura en Portuñol Annual literary prize for works written in portuñol (portunhol), a language phenomenon common in the border zones between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with publication of selected works in a digital anthology by Grupo Heterónimos.
• Premio Desmadres de Lectura Annual literary award celebrating the act of reading, recognizing participants in three age categories (infantil, juvenil, adultos) who share their reading experiences through written, audio, or video formats, with book prizes for winners.
• Revista Desmadres Printed and digital magazine showcasing literary works, festival-related content, and selected Reading Prize entries, available for purchase through the festival's Mercado Shops online store and distributed to festival attendees.
• Podcast Desmadres Ongoing podcast series where writers, singers, translators, and communicators discuss their relationship with literature and related topics, distributed via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• Apuntes del desborde (anthology) Printed anthology compiling winning and outstanding nonfiction essays from the Premio Desmadres de No Ficción, edited and published by Fondo de Cultura Económica de Argentina.
• Fronteras Imposibles (anthology) Printed anthology derived from the inaugural Desmadres Congress on 21st-century Latin American literature, covering cartographies, disruptions, and subjectivities, edited and published by Grupo Heterónimos.
• Travesías del portuñol / Travessias portunholas (anthology) Digital anthology compiling selected works from the Premio Desmadres de Escritura en Portuñol, edited by Grupo Heterónimos and distributed for free download.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,000 in-person attendees from 24 countries in the 2023 inaugural edition
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Fondo de Cultura Económica (Argentina)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFondo de Cultura Económica is a co-organizer of the Premio Desmadres de No Ficción and publishes the winning anthology 'Apuntes del desborde'. This is a flagship partnership providing publication infrastructure and credibility for the nonfiction prize.
• Editorial Heterónimos / Grupo HeterónimoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEditorial Heterónimos is a co-organizer of multiple prizes (No Ficción, Portuñol) and publishes the portuñol anthology 'Travesías del portuñol / Travessias portunholas' as well as the congress anthology 'Fronteras imposibles'. Manages the Banco Ciudad account for fee collection.
• Universidad Federal de Integración Latino-Americana (UNILA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNILA co-supports the Premio Desmadres de escrita em portunhol and hosted the award announcement ceremony for the portuñol prize in September 2023 at the 'Portuñol e outras ervas' event.
• Fundación Cultural de Foz de IguaçuminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-supporter of the Premio Desmadres de escrita em portunhol, contributing to the prize ecosystem along with UNILA.
• Universidad de San Pablo — Programa de Lengua Española y Literaturas Española e Hispanoamericana (FFyL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic program at University of São Paulo that co-supports the portuñol writing prize.
• 100fronteirasminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedia/cultural platform that co-supports the portuñol writing prize.
• Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM)coreOthersUNSAM provides the Edificio Volta venue for the congress in 2023 and 2024. A key venue partner hosting the primary academic programming.
• Universidad Nacional de las Artes (UNA)coreOthersUniversidad Nacional de las Artes provides its Bartolomé Mitre campus as a congress venue, supporting the academic program.
• Biblioteca Nacional Mariano MorenocoreOthersArgentina's national library served as a congress venue in 2023, providing institutional prestige and physical space for academic sessions.
• Ampersand, Corregidor, Eterna Cadencia, Godot, Heterónimos, Híbrida, La pollera, La bestia equilátera, Letra Impresa, Loqueleo, Malpaso, Odelia, Paradiso, Biblioteca Nacional, Ediciones Futuröck, EDUVIM, El Aleph, Universidad de Łódź (supporters of Reading Prize)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerApproximately 18 publishers, bookstores, universities, and cultural institutions supported the Premio Desmadres de Lectura by contributing books as prizes and/or promotional support. These are minor GTM partners providing credibility and prizes.
• UnaBrechaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer of the portuñol writing prize alongside Desmadres and Grupo Heterónimos.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/desmadres.festival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/desmadres-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Desmadres. Festival de literatura latinoamericana