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Published: September 12th 2013
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Festa Major del Gracia
Every village, town and city in Spain has their own adopted Saint and usually has a festival to celebrate their Saint's Day. In Spain every day of the year is a Saint's Day so I guess there must be a festival going on somewhere in Spain every day.
In Barcelona every area of the city, or
barrio, holds a festival - most of these are during the summer months.
The biggest of these is the
Festa Major del Gracia, held in the
barrio of
Gracia {surprisingly!} at the end of August. The festival dates back nearly 200 years, long before
Gracia was absorbed into
Barcelona. The festival is organised along the streets in the
barrio. The residents of each street organise the decoration of the street and the activities which will take place in the street during the week - neighbourhood community meals, childrens events, competitions and workshops, dancing and live music. Every street that participates in the festival organise a full schedule of events for the community for the week.
The decoration of the streets is really impressive! Each street chooses a theme for their decorations and the residents of the street
And In Spain They Have Punch And Judy Too
But Señor Punch doesn't seem to be quite as objectionable as his British counterpart do all the work and resource all the materials. And, with Spain in the middle of an economic crisis, it's amazing what can be achieved with what must be a minimal budget. One of the visiting friends who I take to the festival remarks that it must be really bad to be the person on the street without a creative talent at this time of year. At the same time as the decorations are being planned other people are organising the events in that street for the week.
The street is closed to traffic for the week and a temporary stage is built in the middle of the street. A whole range of events is organised - live music, children's shows, dancing, meals, competitions and workshops. These events are all part of the tradition of the festival and the residents try to continue with these despite the large number of tourists who are now crowding into the streets to see the festival. It must be off-putting to be playing dominoes or even taking part in a Sudoku competition while being photographed all the time by tourists {and me!}
I even come across a group of children watching a
Punch and Judy show in one of the streets. I'd always thought that
Punch and Judy was something typical of British seaside resorts and remind myself to do some googling when I get home.
Señor Punch seems a bit more politically correct than
Mister Punch although it is a long time since I watched a Punch and Judy show - maybe he's been brought a bit closer to the 21st century everywhere.
The festival kicks off with a parade highlighting a lot of Catalan traditions. As always there are
Giants, Castellers {the human towers},
Batoners {a dance similar to some morris dancing},
Trabucaires {people armed with something that looks like a blunderbuss} and a demonstration of
Correfoc {fire run}.
The festival finishes with a bigger
Correfoc through the streets on the last night. And before I have finished writing this they will have already started planning for next year's festival.
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