August is a month rich with festes here in the Penedès. Most festivity programs tend to be available only in Catalan but, with the help of this glossary, anyone with an intermediate level of another Latin language will be able to find all necessary information. Nota Bene: all Festa Major programs include sports events, rock concerts and excursions etc, while my focus usually is on Catalan popular culture.
August 1-6; The Festa Major of Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf): Since this is the festa major I know the best, I have created a full list of recommendations on what to see. However, on Saturday, August 1, at 18:00 there will be a parade of centennial giants (gegants) so unique that many people from other parts of Catalonia will come here.
August 17-24; The Festa Major of Sant Bartomeu of Igualada (Anoia)
August 21-27; The Festa Major of Sant Bartomeu of Sitges (Garraf): Many expats praise Sitges for being “so international” and, well, it is. But during its festes this town certainly does 'come out of the closet' and shows its true Catalan colours.
August 22-27; The Festa Major of Sant Julià of Arboç (Baix Penedès): One of the most traditional festes in the Penedès.
August 29 – September 2; The Festa Major of Vilafranca del Penedès (Alt Penedès). The one of Vilanova is the one I personally know the best, but the one of Vilafranca is officially classified as state-of-the-art: "la més típica". On September 30, this year's best performance of human towers (la jornada castellera de Sant Fèlix) will take place in the plaça de la Vila ("la més castellera"), participants: Castellers de Vilafranca, Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls, Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls and Minyons de Terrassa.
August 29: At 18:00, a Day of Human Towers (jornada castellera) in the plaça de l'Esglesia in Granollers with the Bordegassos de Vilanova and the Xics de Granollers.
August 29: A Day of Human Towers (jornada castellera) in Sitges with the Colla Jove de Sitges, the Capgrossos de Mataró and the Minyons de Terrassa.
August 29: Human Towers during the Vigil of Sant Fèlix in Vilafranca del Penedès; participants: Castellers de Vilafranca and Xicots de Vilafranca.
August 31: From 11:30, folk dances and the Falcons de Vilafranca in the plaça de la Vila of Vilafranca del Penedès. After this follows the Human Tower celebration of Sant Ramon by the Castellers de Vilafranca and Xicots de Vilafranca.
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Exhibitions:
'Bestiari d'Europa 1870-1970'; more or less historic photos of dragons and other monsters from European folklore, at La Sala, Vilanova i la Geltrú. Until August 9.
'El laberint i la vida'; a modern art exhibition by Òscar Estruga at LaSala, Vilanova i la Geltrú.
'Photos of the Giants of Vilanova' at the Sala Toc (C/ Caputxins), Vilanova i la Geltrú. From July 25 to August 9.
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General information:
The Wirdheim.CAT event calendar is a presentation of events where I will go, hope to be able to go or, at least, would consider going, centered around Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf) and the rest of the Penedès area. If you are interested in a certain date, please, send me a question in a comment or, alternatively, come back to this entry. It will be up-dated whenever I learn about new things and, compared to my native Sweden, in Catalonia information about what will happen tends to come late.
Wirdheim.CAT will to the greatest extent possible refer to official pages (usually in Catalan) for information on the time and location of events and can unfortunately not guarantee to present the latest up-dates or changes of program.
For castells/castellers (human tower) performances outside the Penedès area, please, refer to the tag Agenda Castellera at the Coordinadora de les Colles Castelleres de Catalunya, or the Calendari at LaMalla.cat/castellers.
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Technorati tags: Castellers, Catalonia, Festa Major, Garraf, Human Towers, Igualada, Penedès, Sitges, Vilafranca, Vilanova,
2 comments:
Erik - I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the Vilanova Festa Major. I'm hoping to attend the Correfoc on 31 July and take it from there ... any advice on where best to view the Correfoc greatly appreciated.
Hi Ian,
My recommendations for the August part will be presented here mid next week.
Regarding the correfoc, I consider the Vilanova version very good. True, we do not have very many firesspitting monsters, but there are many teams of devils.
Unless you are sure that you like explosions and fire, you should avoid narrow streets like C/ Esglesia. In the Rambla, on the other hand, it is easy to escape if you realize that this is too noicy for your taste.
Why not start at Plaça de les Cols and take it from there. Vilanova is not like Barcelona - there will be a lot of people out this night, but everybody will watch the correfoc and you will therefore be able to move around freely as long as you use streets off the itinerary.
//Erik
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