correfoc

Correfoc is one of the most extreme of the Catalan festivals. It involves 'trained professionals' dressing up as dimonis (demons) and setting off a series of spectacular fireworks whilst the crowd runs away/stands in the way and dances.

It translates literally as run away from fire. So you get the idea :) Correfoc is a joyous celebration. Few festivals can top the pure excitement and adrenaline rush that you get from loud explotions coupled with dancing a jig. (What is it with the Iberians and incredible danger?)

It's an odd celebration in so far as each town seems to celebrate it at a different time. The ins and outs however, roughly speaking, remain the same throughout Catalonia.

It is celebrated in the street. Most shops board up their windows to stop fire damage. Usually there is a percussion band hammering out the classic latin rhythms and basically you dance drink and avoid the demon with the firework strapped to a stick (they are similar to a Catherine wheel mounted horizontally, and the sticks are quite long so they are above your head) The whole town turns out women and children alike. The demons tour the centre of the town and the celebration ends in the town square. A huge Firework display often finishes off the occasion and the whole thing is very spectacular indeed.

They sure do win the award for most interesting celebrations, correfoc puts English Morris dancing to shame. We should have a Catalan version were the morrismen have rockets strapped to their feet :D

This is a correfoc that I went to in La Bisbal, it's not the biggest but it was still very scary ah tell thee!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB6ca80Aqtc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcA0-KIhoN8

Enjoy!
John

Tots Sants i Fira de la Ratafia

After we've just celebrated Halloween and Bonfire night, i thought i'd look at some of Catalunya's biggest celebrations in November.

The first major festival is that of 'Tots Sants' or All Saints Day, this is not just restricted to Catalunya but is celebrated throughout the Western world. However, it is celebrated in Catalunya with people visiting the graves of those who have died to offer flowers, followed by a family lunch including seasonal foods like boniato (sweet potato) and castanyes (chestnuts) for dessert. Almond cakes called panellets are often eaten at this time to represent those prepared at funerals in ancient Spain.

The second is Fira de la Ratafia which takes place on the 24th and 25th of November in Besalu. It celebrates "Ratafia", a liquor that elaborated from green nuts. The main celebration of the festival is a traditional market in the main square of Besalu, to honor and present the local produce.

Steph xx

http://www.ehow.com/how_2064989_celebrate-all-saints-day-spain.html

http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/articles/catalan-public-holiday/index.html

http://www.rabbies.eu.com/festivals_fiestas.asp

La Diada de Sant Jordi
I was looking through research on Catalan Feast days when I found ‘La Diada de Sant Jordi’ which I found very interesting.

This day, the 23rd April, is known as the ‘Day of Lovers’ and is often compared to our Valentines Day, however their tradition of exchanging gifts is a little different. Men give their sweethearts a rose, and women give their boyfriends a book. They give books because a bookseller in 1923 began to promote the holiday as a way to honour the simultaneous deaths of the two greatest men of literature: Miguel de Cervantes and Britain’s William Shakespeare, both deceased on April 23, 1616. As Barcelona was the publishing capital of the Spanish-speaking world, the fashion of exchanging books was quickly adopted to celebrate both love and literacy.

All over Catalonia, hundreds of flower stands selling roses and makeshift bookstalls are set up for the day. By the end of the day, almost four million roses and 400,000 books are purchased in the name of love. The amount of books sold on this day alone is just over half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia! There is also a tradition of 24-hour reading sessions of Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes. The roses are presented together with a spike of wheat and a small red and yellow Catalonian flag. Ribbons are also used to tie together the roses, with printed words such as ‘Sant Jordi’ (Saint George), ‘Diada de la Rosa’ (Day of the Rose) an d ‘t’estimo’ (I love you).

This day is not an official non-working day, yet most people take the day off to enjoy it. The Sardana, the national dance of Catalonia, is performed throughout the day and dancers and musicians perform on nearly every Plaça. La Diada de Sant Jordi is the only day when the ‘Palau de la Generalitat’, Barcelona's main government building, is open to visitors. A huge display of roses honouring Saint George can be seen there. UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ) has also made the 23rd April, the World Book and Copyright Day.

Below is a link to a mini video showing the grand scale of this event.

http://www.gencat.cat/catalunya/santjordi/eng/index.htm

Thanks, Chiara