I was looking forward to celebrate the Festa Major de Vilanova i la Geltrú from next week, but now flags and posters in the streets tell me that, at least officially, it starts tomorrow already.About our carnival tradition, people from here say that you have to be a member of a carnival association (colla) to appreciate it fully. With the Festa Major it is the other way around – it is open to everyone, independently whether you live here or only visit for the day. The program is rich and includes all the elements you want to find in a true Catalan festa: traditional human towers (castellers), acrobatic human towers (falcons), almost daily processions (cercavila) of either giants, fire-spitting monsters (above all dragons) or other funny creations as well as sardana dance performances.
Last year I was ambitious enough to make a full translation into English of the program, but this year I will focus on documenting the event. The Festa Major representatives (pabordes) have created a beautiful moon inspired - since vilanovins are said to go crazy when the moon is full - web-page and I believe that you will be able to decipher the important 'whats', 'whens' and 'wheres' from the text in Catalan. There is still plenty of time because, let us be honest, what will happen this weekend is only the warm-up. The "real" party starts next Friday, August 1, and lasts until the following Wednesday, August 6.
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Technorati tags: Festa, Garraf, Vilanova
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