Tradition and Fun in the festivals

 Tradition and fun in the festivals

 Traditional

• The heiresses

They are the protagonists of the festivals and they represent the entities of the villages.

The day of the proclamation, that is the first day of night dances, they wear an elegant dress.
In some villages all they wear the same one, and in other villages they wear different and
colourful dresses.

In most villages the girls that are heiresses are all of the same age, and there are child
heiresses and young heiresses. In other villages there is not a concrete age to be a heiress.

On the day after the proclamation, the heiresses wear a traditional Catalan dress, and they
sell “panoli”.

They participate in all of the events that take place during the festivals, and they also go to the processions.

•   Offering

It is a gift that is offered to a virgin or a saint. It is usually offered to the patron of a town or a city. It is preceded, in most cases, by a procession; a group of people leading to the virgin or saint on a pedestal throughout the procession, at the end the virgin or saint is carried to the church and the people bring them the flowers. 

• Processions 

 The processions are on the day of the patron’s festivity. People go in a parade around the streets in two lines, and in the middle there’s the saint and the village’s musical group, and also the heiresses, the children who have done the first communion that year and the priest.

People are very quiet and walk slowly, and they hold a candle on their hands. The music is very serious.

• Proclamation

It’s a proclamation, it is a literary discourse that the mayor pronounces in public on the occasion of a feast or celebrations. It Usually starts the festivals event, the carnival, etc. It is often the mayor who gives the word preacher.

• "The giants"

The giants are large figures representing the kings, nobles and people with traditional costumes. Along with the big heads are a very important festivals of many of the Catalan people, in which often represent the former benefactors of the town.

• "Panoli"

Panoli or Panoli cakes, made ​​with olive oil, flour, sugar and aniseed. This cake came to take the money that financial festival but are now all year round.

• Parades

Some villages in our land in their festivals one afternoon show her parades.

These are made by some different groups and they show their jobs or their hobbies with some representative symbols about them.

  

• Sardanes

  The sardanes is a traditional Catalan dance .
  This dance is dancing with one circle following the music played by a couplet.
  The people wore different clothes stills, depending on their zone. 

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  • Havaneres

  
  

   

  Havaneres are general music which is called “d'anada i tornada” (back and forth).

  
  

  That music is played since 19^th century . It was the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African motif, and the first dance music from Cuba to be exported all over the world.

  
  

  • "Tres tombs”
    

  The “tres tombs” are the popular party around of Saint Antoni Abat at 17 of January. The principal tradition is gives three tombs with horses, laps, and the other draft animals in the village.

  In the past occurred three laps around the big fire, this is made of green branches. 

  Once Christianity has more presence, are the tombs around the church of San Antonio or, failing that, the image of the saint, where is the blessing of the animals. In many places it is customary to bring pets like cats, dogs and birds to be blessed.

  
  
  

  To have fun

  •  Bulls
  
  
  
  They Are very important festival events in Catalonia and especially in Valencia, which are not based on public torture and death of the animal.
  -The ‘Correbou’ : 
  This is the name given to the bull game, in a limited urban route, the bull takes off and runs free in the streets and squares of the town. 
   
  -The bull 'embolat': is at night people put on the bull horns balls of fire and after the bull takes off and runs free in the bull ring.
  
  -The bull ‘capllaçat’. It is a game mode where the bull has a thick rope tied up in its horns.  
  
  
  

  -"Encierro": It is a traditional habit of bulls, in the parties of numerous villages and some cities of Spain and Latin America. 

  

  It consists of running in front a group of very numerous of bulls. In general, the best runners try to run more near as possible of the bulls, but without reaching them. Many times the greatest danger of these courtships is created by the inexperienced runners, who originate bottling.

•  Night dances

All the nights of villages’ festivals there are dances in different sites depending on the village and the month when the festivals are: if the festivals are in summer, the dances are in an open place, like a playground of a school or a big tent, but if the festivals are in winter, they are celebrated in a casal or a sports centre. In these dances, every night an orchestra plays, but only a night, special people play. And at another night, together with the dance, there is the presentation of the heiresses of that year.

For young people, there are dances with deejays and sometimes famous people. In these parties, depending on the village, the assistants recieve a little present like a T-shirt or sandals.

• The correfoc

The Correfoc is a typical Catalan parade around the streets. It’s usually during the village’s festivals. It’s accompanied with “diables” (devils) and drums, and at the end, a dragon appears with fireworks and everybody dances around it.

People often bring water buckets and they throw the water to the other people.

It’s a funny party with fire and water. If you want to go, it will be better for you to wear long old jeans and a sweatshirt, and also a straw hat. 

• Popular meals

In  festivals some afternoons it’s distributed  bread with tomato and salty ham,  mussels, black pudding, sausage...

And  some days popular food such as ‘paella’or ‘estofat’ is given.

• Xaranga

It is a reduced group of musicians with wind instruments and percussion instruments who are responsible to encourage festivals and popular events.
The brass bands were created about 8 or 15 traditional musicians. The main objective is to accompany to the street parades. Another of these objectives is encouraging various activities such as popular parties, parades, goodbyes and others. Usually are composed with amateur musicians. The brass bands interpreted popular songs depends on the location.

• "Mascletada"

It is a noisy fireworks castle that marks the ending or the begining of the festivals of the villages. Traditionally it is started by the major heiress.

• Soaped log

Soaped pole in Spanish Pal ensabonat is an activity that is celebrated with one log horizontal in the coastal villages or with one log put vertically at the villages which haven't got sea, irrigation channel or river.

• The vertically soaped log.

This game consists of a pole soaked with soap and then at its ending there is a prize ( in most villages there is a ham or an other product like a T-shirt).

The person who can climb up to the end of the log and can catch the prize is the winner.

• The horizontal soaped log.

This game consists of a log soaked with soap. The people cross by turns the log and then when they arrive on the top they fall into the sea and after they get a watermelon. In the past they got a duck instead of a watermelon because the animals protectors say that it isn't good for the ducks as an abuse.

 

• Junk
  
  
  Junk in Spanish andròmines which are cars decorated with different style. It can be made with cardboard, metals, paints and a lot of different materials.
  

  It is celebrated like an activity in the festivals of some countries.
  The challenge consists of an evaluation on the jury's behalf. The jury look the junk and then they choose the most beautiful and original junk. This is the winner.
  Finally, the winner obtains a prize (some products or money)

Special things

• Women's Day

One of the days of the festivals week is dedicated to women, and there are many activities for them. There is also a meal only for women with several fun things for them to enjoy their day.

• Young day

Every year, when there are celebrations in the village, one day is especial for the young people. This day special and funny things are made. During the day,they make a young lunch, one party for the groups, bull “capllaçat”, black pudding(baldanes) are distributed, little bulls and bull "embolat", and at night we go to the young party where young people dance and have fun.

• La Nit Blanca

La Nit Blanca is a party that consists in not sleeping during all the night and it’s celebrated in a lot of villages. Mainly, younger people are who participate in it because they have got more festive spirit.

• Desfilada de moda

The shops show their clothes by different actresses and actors along one walkway. 

  

• Forastocks

Some shops of the village take out their products of the street for show and sell it for  all the people.

Traditional games

• Domino

  
  

  Domino is a board game played by two or more people.

  This gameis based on 28 domino.

  Each domino is divided into two equal  parts.  Also on each domino you can get from zero to six points.  

  Any of the combinations is repeated throughout the game.

  The game finishes when one person of the group doesn’t have any domino.  
  
  

  • Bitlles

  Bitlles is a game that consists onto turn a certain number of post by launching a ball other three little post of  different  weight from a certain distance.
  The competition is between different people and the winner obtains some products to eat.
   
  
  
  
  

  • Shot at the target

        
  

  To practice this sport it is necessary silence, precision and shot. More and more in Catalonia people practice this sport, because in this way they train for the hunting time or also to spend the leisure time. The marksman or the markswoman has to shot at the target that it moved at hundred kilometers per hour, it appears and leaves very quickly. And each time that the marksman or markswomen touch a target he or she obtains one point.

  
  

  • "Guinyot"

   
  

  This game is a typical cart game of Terres de l'Ebre. It is played with the Spanish pack of cards and without the eights and the nines. The groups are of to persons and they sit in front of the other person.

  During the festivals of the villages we make championships of it.

  
  

  

  Mariana Arias, Anna Cabrera, Júlia Colomines, Nerea Favà, Pili Forcadell, Laura Llaó i Gemma Méndez