The man behind D.C."s Argentine Festival While he waits, he unpacks the golden trophies he will award the tango artists and those who win a tournament of truco, an Argentine card game. The trophies are wrapped in an Argentine newspaper, from his annual December prospecting trip in search of artists and supplies. He triple-checks his spreadsheet detailing where the dancers, crooners and musicians will stay, and who will pick them up from the airport and deliver them to the festival. The phone rings - and now Manzoni is speaking Spanish live on the radio, his face softening and becoming younger, with an eager smile. The radio host seems to have all the time in the world to hear about the entertainment, the VIP guests, the raffle of round-trip airline tickets between Miami and Buenos Aires, the "artisanal" empanadas and the sausage sandwiches. "We invite the whole Argentine, Latin American, American community," Manzoni says. We have a delightful festival with tremendous artists in folk music, tango, dance, so we hope for the whole community! He ticks another item off the long to-do list he keeps at his elbow. The Festival Argentino is hardly the largest ethnic festival in the Washington area. Manzoni expects 375 to 425 people, paying $20 in advance or $30 at the door, at the Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre on South Old Glebe Road. Vendors start selling at 4 p.m. and performances are 6 to 10:30 p.m. Tango and folk dance workshops are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Yet, after 25 years, the festival has proved to be an enduringly singular creation, a quirky institution founded on one man's passion and pain. "You can just feel that it feeds him in such a deep way," says Jim Byers, marketing manager for Arlington Economic Development, which provides the theater for free through its Arlington Cultural Affairs division. As a Latin music fan, I can tell you, the people he brings - these are no-joke people. These are top-quality artists. He really digs deep," adds Byers, who also hosts "Latin Flavor Classics Edition" on WPFW (89.3 FM). The lineup includes Miguel Dure, Daniel Bouchet, Pampa Cortes (with Gigi Jensen and Lizette Perelle), Son Ellas, Victorio Menghi and local artists. The first festival, in 1988, took place in a public library, with empanadas and Coke, and someone reciting lines from "Martin Fierro," the classic poem about a gaucho, or cowboy.