YOU may be new to the idea of the bumbumbox party. In fact, you almost certainly will be new to the idea of the bumbumbox party since the first such event in the country is taking place in Newcastle on Friday.

“This will be the very first time,” confirms Matias Aguayo, the DJ and electronic music specialist who has taken street partying rife throughout Latin America, given it his own spin and introduced it to cold-blooded Europeans.

He has popularised his own street partying brand in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Colombia, transforming sometimes under-used public spaces into friendly places for celebration, music and dance.

I had been wondering about the meaning of bumbumbox, a word guaranteed to raise a smile in any playground. But it seems it’s related to boom box, the old ghetto blaster as expressed through the languages and sensibilities of South America.

Matias says the aim is always to have a nice party that doesn’t exclude anybody. Children, old people, people in clothes not made for dancing – anyone’s welcome.

First, though, a bit of background. Matias was born in Chile but has spent most of his life in the German city of Cologne, to where his parents headed to escape the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

“But more than 10 years ago I left Germany and went to Buenos Aries and became involved in a lot of music activities,” says the amiable leader of the dance.

“I started bumbumbox as a reaction to a big catastrophe in a nightclub.”

You might remember it. The República Cromanón club in the Argentine capital caught fire on December 30, 2004 while some 3,000 people were celebrating the forthcoming New Year inside.

A flare was set off, which made an inferno of a building whose doors had been locked to keep gatecrashers out. Of those inside, 194 died, mostly from fume and smoke inhalation, and more than 700 were hurt.

“After that they put very strict rules in place for clubs and most of them closed because they couldn’t afford to put them into practice,” says Matias.

“The ones that stayed open were the big commercial clubs so what we did was provide an alternative for people.”

With the gear set up in a trice, bumbumbox got people dancing on the streets. The infectious vibes were the invitation to do what comes naturally in that part of the world.

Matias says his parties also had the effect of reclaiming some public spaces which had not been perceived as being very safe after dark.

People generally, he says, have started to move away from the idea of communing publicly. Maybe it’s fear, maybe the lure of home entertainment. Bumbumbox, with a DJ playing electronic beats, has been proven to get bums off their sofas.

Introducing it to Europe has been interesting for Matias and his colleagues. Parties were held last year in Norway and Portugal.

“Some things were the same, some different,” says Matias. “If you saw the reaction of people in Tromso (Norway), they went crazy.

“This is a city which is much more regulated and for the people who partied with us there, it was a revelation.

“In the northern countries, we find, people are a bit more shy during the daytime but they quickly get into the spirit of things when it gets dark.”

In Oporto (Portugal), surprisingly you might think, people were a bit shy.

“It was another kind of shyness so it took hours and hours for people to warm up but it turned into a wonderful party,” recalls Matias.

“This is the nice thing about these parties. Always something happens but always there are memories. In a nightclub you play for the people inside but outside there is an element of the unexpected.

“It’s a very non-standard audience because this is something for free.”

Matias, invited to bring his bumbumbox party to Newcastle by Nik Barrera, director of the ¡Vamos! festival, said the parties usually worked better at night.

Nik said that might not work so well in Newcastle so a compromise was reached. The ¡Vamos! bumbumbox party will be at Grey’s Monument on Friday, noon to 3pm.

Supported by the Arts Council, what you hear will be a new commission by Matias and North East artist Capracara.

The pair will talk about their work on Saturday at 1pm at the Biscuit Tin Studios on Warwick Street, Newcastle. To book a place, email all@novakcollective.com. All festival events on www.vamosfestival.com.

I had been wondering about the meaning of bumbumbox, a word guaranteed to raise a smile in any playground