Carnival Saturday is reserved for the children of Vilanova. The funny character ‘Caramel’ invites them to sing and dance in the Plaça del Mercat. After that he jumps up in his ‘bicimòbil’, a fantasy vehicle, and leads everyone in a parade through the town centre.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Saturday, 21 February 2009
ENG: What is the Ball de Malcasats?
ENG: Has Anyone Missed that the Carnival King is Here?
El rei Carnestoltes (the Carnival King) wants to be seen. In the morning of Carnival Saturday, he and his concubines plus the flag bearers of the comparses do their best to cover the whole centre of Vilanova - all squares and all markets - to make sure that nobody has missed that he has arrived.
ENG: "l'Arrivo" - When the Carnival King Arrives in Vilanova
"L'Arrivo" (in Vilanova consequently spelled with a 'v' instead of a 'b') is the Friday carnival parade in honour of its king - el rei Carnestoltes. As of the local tradition, the focus in on satire, rather than on colours, feathers and samba.
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Find photos from l'Arrivo 2009 here.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova
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Find photos from l'Arrivo 2009 here.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova
ENG: Carnival at the Schools of Vilanova
The week leading up to the Carnival are busy days for all parents of Vilanova. Every morning, before taking our children to school, do we have to prepare them for the theme of the day; be it simple things like putting on non-matching socks and painting their face white as a meringue or more advanced ones like dressing them as comparsers or in fancy dresses.
Since shools are closed on Carnvial Monday and Tuesday, activities reach their peak on the Friday. Then all schools here parade through the town and organize their own welcome ceremonies for el rei Carnestoltes, with music and dancing. And this 'indoctrination' into Vilanova culture starts early. Even our three-year-old was taken out for a small parade with the other children of his kindergarten. They were dressed in pineapple suits. What a pity I could not stay to take photos.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova
Friday, 20 February 2009
ENG: The Meringue War of Vilanova
Dijous gras (litterally fat Thursday) of the Carnival week can be dangerous here in Vilanova. During the merengada (the meringue war) you enter the town centre at your own risk, however, to get sticky meringue paste on your clothes is quite harmless compared to being hit by a boiled egg. Fortunately enough, during the last years there have been few incidents.
Like most other parents with small children I decided to be brave and enter the war zone. As stupid as it might sound, I felt really smart coming close to the meringue throwing children without getting too many stains on my clothes. Sadly enough I was the only one of our family group who enjoyed the merengada. The three-year-old was so horrified that he preferred sitting in his push chair to being in my arms, but also the five-year-old was very hesitant although he met some of his best school mates with meringue covered faces.
In a few years that will change and I can already picture how my sons will run away from me and join the happy crowd. And I will just have to make sure that their clothes are well covered. That is worth mentioning, by the way: the merengada is colourful - thanks to all raincoats.
- - -Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova
Thursday, 19 February 2009
ENG: The Carnival of Vilanova – What Makes It Unique?
The carnival celebrations in Vilanova i la Geltrú can be traced back at least some 300 years and the tradition is as strong as ever. Since most activities are local in their character and lack Brazilian influences, Vilanova’s carnaval is the only one taken up on the Generalitat’s list of traditional festivities of national (i.e. Catalan) interest.
If we look back a hundred years, we will find out that carnival dinners and dances were typically organized by different societies and reserved for their members. Some of these were social and cultural associations which exist still today – eg. the Foment Vilanoví and El Coro (nowadays l’Unió Vilanovina) while others were related to the trades – eg. the confraria dels pescadors (the fishermen’s brotherhood).
Now that is exactly how the carnaval de Vilanova is built up still today. The number of carnival societies has multiplied as the town has grown – to the historical ones we can add those of sports clubs and others which only exist for the sake of the carnival – but the parties which they organize are private.
Historically, these carnival societies used to take part in public activities every day of the carnival week but the peak has always been on the Sunday. To the 300.000 people who come here to watch on this day, this is the guerra de caramels (the candy war), but in its core it is a competition between the comparses of the carnival societies in making themselves seen and heard and, above all, having the most fun.
I have learnt that the tradition to throw candy on the spectators comes from the people who returned to the coastal towns of Catalonia after having made it rich at sugar plantations in Cuba. On the diumenge de les comparses these so called indians would show off their wealth by throwing almonds and small coins to the poorer people who looked at them while they partied in the streets.
During the Spanish Civil War, Vilanova stopped celebrating the carnival and to take up the tradition afterwards became a challenge. The carnival had always been known for its satiric and erotic streaks, neither of which was particularly appreciated by Franco - especially not if people were allowed to hide behind masks. Since Spain was a dictatorship, the easy solution was to forbid the phenomenon, which also happened from 1937 until 1956. However, in Vilanova, where the carnival benefited from having its roots in private societies, to offend against the ban became a symbol in vindication of a Catalan identity; ‘el carnaval del poble’.
Like other Catalan towns, Vilanova changed the official name to “fiesta mayor del invierno”, but here the dates of the festivities always coincided with the last week before Lent. By 1954, the Foment Vilanoví recuperated the comparses on the Sunday and step by step did people become braver in using the carnival as an excuse for expressing their minds. However, an article about the carnival in the Diari de Vilanova from 1975 – published only nine months before Franco’s death – reveals that the police continued to monitor all celebrations in public places but that, that time, they did not intervene since the satiric comments had stayed within “reasonable limits”.
One year later, a new era began in Spain and since then Vilanova has revived the old festive ingredients like the arrival of the Carnival King (l‘arrivo del rei Carnestoltes) the Vilanova dances and the funeral of a sardine (l’enterro).
“Que surts a la comparsa?” ("Are you in any comparsa?", in a free translation) is a question which I have received quite a few times during the last week. Coming Sunday, as many as 6.000 couples will dance to the march la Turuta and other tunes as they prepare themselves for the guerres de caramels, so when I answer that my wife still do not, our friends are surprised. Our excuse is simple - we prefer to enjoy this day together with our children rather than to leave them with a baby sitter. But who knows, by next year our youngest one might be old enough to cope with a long day of partying. After all, to fully enjoy the carnival of Vilanova you must not watch, but participate.
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The sources of this entry are articles from Vilanova Digital by Joan Ingasi Gómez i Barrera, Miguel Ángel Gonzales Alaya and Eulalia Sòria, the official Carnaval de Vilanova web-page and Festes.org.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Spain, Vilanova
If we look back a hundred years, we will find out that carnival dinners and dances were typically organized by different societies and reserved for their members. Some of these were social and cultural associations which exist still today – eg. the Foment Vilanoví and El Coro (nowadays l’Unió Vilanovina) while others were related to the trades – eg. the confraria dels pescadors (the fishermen’s brotherhood).
Now that is exactly how the carnaval de Vilanova is built up still today. The number of carnival societies has multiplied as the town has grown – to the historical ones we can add those of sports clubs and others which only exist for the sake of the carnival – but the parties which they organize are private.
Historically, these carnival societies used to take part in public activities every day of the carnival week but the peak has always been on the Sunday. To the 300.000 people who come here to watch on this day, this is the guerra de caramels (the candy war), but in its core it is a competition between the comparses of the carnival societies in making themselves seen and heard and, above all, having the most fun.
I have learnt that the tradition to throw candy on the spectators comes from the people who returned to the coastal towns of Catalonia after having made it rich at sugar plantations in Cuba. On the diumenge de les comparses these so called indians would show off their wealth by throwing almonds and small coins to the poorer people who looked at them while they partied in the streets.
During the Spanish Civil War, Vilanova stopped celebrating the carnival and to take up the tradition afterwards became a challenge. The carnival had always been known for its satiric and erotic streaks, neither of which was particularly appreciated by Franco - especially not if people were allowed to hide behind masks. Since Spain was a dictatorship, the easy solution was to forbid the phenomenon, which also happened from 1937 until 1956. However, in Vilanova, where the carnival benefited from having its roots in private societies, to offend against the ban became a symbol in vindication of a Catalan identity; ‘el carnaval del poble’.
Like other Catalan towns, Vilanova changed the official name to “fiesta mayor del invierno”, but here the dates of the festivities always coincided with the last week before Lent. By 1954, the Foment Vilanoví recuperated the comparses on the Sunday and step by step did people become braver in using the carnival as an excuse for expressing their minds. However, an article about the carnival in the Diari de Vilanova from 1975 – published only nine months before Franco’s death – reveals that the police continued to monitor all celebrations in public places but that, that time, they did not intervene since the satiric comments had stayed within “reasonable limits”.
One year later, a new era began in Spain and since then Vilanova has revived the old festive ingredients like the arrival of the Carnival King (l‘arrivo del rei Carnestoltes) the Vilanova dances and the funeral of a sardine (l’enterro).
“Que surts a la comparsa?” ("Are you in any comparsa?", in a free translation) is a question which I have received quite a few times during the last week. Coming Sunday, as many as 6.000 couples will dance to the march la Turuta and other tunes as they prepare themselves for the guerres de caramels, so when I answer that my wife still do not, our friends are surprised. Our excuse is simple - we prefer to enjoy this day together with our children rather than to leave them with a baby sitter. But who knows, by next year our youngest one might be old enough to cope with a long day of partying. After all, to fully enjoy the carnival of Vilanova you must not watch, but participate.
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The sources of this entry are articles from Vilanova Digital by Joan Ingasi Gómez i Barrera, Miguel Ángel Gonzales Alaya and Eulalia Sòria, the official Carnaval de Vilanova web-page and Festes.org.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Spain, Vilanova
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
ENG: The Carnival of Vilanova - Day By Day
The full carnival program of Vilanova i la Geltrú is available in Catalan. If you know Spanish or French and let the descriptions in the entry below serve as a glossary to some quite local names and expressions, you will not have any problems to understand it. Officially, the Carnival of Vilanova i la Geltrú lasts from the 7th to the 28th of February, but here I will focus on the week usually considered to be the proper carnaval.
For moon crazy (llunàtic) Vilanova we have to start by making an exception. The Saturday before the Carnival is by tradition dedicated to the Ball de Mantons. This evening people dress up - all women in characteristic embroidered silk shawls - and go out and dance with the other members of their carnival societies respectively.
Dijous Gras (N.B: not mardi gras or Fat Tuesday) on carnival Thursday is when the festivities really take off. In the afternoon, pastry baker Blanch (Av. Francesc Macià, 43) throws out a huge meringue and that is the starting point of the merengada, a meringue war, at the Plaça del Mercat. In the evening, families gather for a traditional meal of xató for starters, and four kinds of truita (omelettes based on botifarra (a kind of sausage), artichoke, potatoes and aubergine) for mains and coca de lladrons or meringue for dessert.
Carnival Friday marks the arrival of the carnival king – l’arrivo del rei Carnestoltes. In the early evening, he and his concubines lead a parade through the town. The final stop is the Plaça de la Vila where the king reads a satirical sermon about what has happened in the town during the last year.
In the morning of Carnival Saturday, the carnival king and his followers pays visits to the markets and the Rambla of Vilanova. During the day there are several performances of the ball de malcasats – the local version of a Catalan folkdance based on satiric acting. In the late afternoon Caramel – a funny figure driving around in his bicimobil - arrives in town and invites all children to dance and sing. Some hours later the Moixó Foguer leads a procession of sleep walkers (people dressed in white night gowns). The Moixó Foguer himself is – believe it or not – a naked man, soaked in honey and covered with feathers. The night, in the end, is called the Nit de Mascarots and some of the carnival societies organize private masquerade parties, but a few walk around and dance in the streets of the town.
On Carnival Sunday, as early as nine a’clock in the morning, the Comparses start to parade through the town accompanied by their own loud orchestras. In front of walks a flag bearer, followed by the members - who come in couples - dressed in a way distinctive from the other comparses. While they dance through the streets they throw candy to all spectators. The epicentre of the activities is the Plaça de la Vila, where the comparses take turns in fighting each other in candy wars (guerra de caramels) which can be very fierce and leave the whole town with a strong, sweat smell.
Carnival Monday is reserved for the Vidalet – when three children's parades unite at the Plaça de la Vila where there is a show with music and dancing. In the early evening, choirs sing carnival related songs all around the town centre.
Carnival Tuesday is named after the Vidalot who historically were some unusually rowdy carnival participants who with feather dusters and carpet beaters in their hands threatened anyone who did not wear a masque. Nowadays, this is the day when competitions are being held in presenting the best masquerade costume, on the one hand, and writing the best erotic short story, on the other. New for this year is a parade to honour the old cannon of the Victor Balaguer Museum, since our neighbour town Sitges claims that it is theirs.
The carnival ends on Ash Wednesday (Dimecres de cendra) when the remains of the carnival king is paraded through the town in a sad and solemn procession, ending at the Plaça de la Vila. There, sardines are being served as a reminder that the carnival is over and the forty days of Lent (quaresma) - leading up to Easter - have started.
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Those of you who do not plan to come here will be able to follow the main events of the Carnaval de Vilanova here on this blog, get more details in Joan Ignasi Gómez’ blog in Catalan and watch reports by local TV channel Canal Blau.
- - -
Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova
For moon crazy (llunàtic) Vilanova we have to start by making an exception. The Saturday before the Carnival is by tradition dedicated to the Ball de Mantons. This evening people dress up - all women in characteristic embroidered silk shawls - and go out and dance with the other members of their carnival societies respectively.
Dijous Gras (N.B: not mardi gras or Fat Tuesday) on carnival Thursday is when the festivities really take off. In the afternoon, pastry baker Blanch (Av. Francesc Macià, 43) throws out a huge meringue and that is the starting point of the merengada, a meringue war, at the Plaça del Mercat. In the evening, families gather for a traditional meal of xató for starters, and four kinds of truita (omelettes based on botifarra (a kind of sausage), artichoke, potatoes and aubergine) for mains and coca de lladrons or meringue for dessert.
Carnival Friday marks the arrival of the carnival king – l’arrivo del rei Carnestoltes. In the early evening, he and his concubines lead a parade through the town. The final stop is the Plaça de la Vila where the king reads a satirical sermon about what has happened in the town during the last year.
In the morning of Carnival Saturday, the carnival king and his followers pays visits to the markets and the Rambla of Vilanova. During the day there are several performances of the ball de malcasats – the local version of a Catalan folkdance based on satiric acting. In the late afternoon Caramel – a funny figure driving around in his bicimobil - arrives in town and invites all children to dance and sing. Some hours later the Moixó Foguer leads a procession of sleep walkers (people dressed in white night gowns). The Moixó Foguer himself is – believe it or not – a naked man, soaked in honey and covered with feathers. The night, in the end, is called the Nit de Mascarots and some of the carnival societies organize private masquerade parties, but a few walk around and dance in the streets of the town.
On Carnival Sunday, as early as nine a’clock in the morning, the Comparses start to parade through the town accompanied by their own loud orchestras. In front of walks a flag bearer, followed by the members - who come in couples - dressed in a way distinctive from the other comparses. While they dance through the streets they throw candy to all spectators. The epicentre of the activities is the Plaça de la Vila, where the comparses take turns in fighting each other in candy wars (guerra de caramels) which can be very fierce and leave the whole town with a strong, sweat smell.
Carnival Monday is reserved for the Vidalet – when three children's parades unite at the Plaça de la Vila where there is a show with music and dancing. In the early evening, choirs sing carnival related songs all around the town centre.
Carnival Tuesday is named after the Vidalot who historically were some unusually rowdy carnival participants who with feather dusters and carpet beaters in their hands threatened anyone who did not wear a masque. Nowadays, this is the day when competitions are being held in presenting the best masquerade costume, on the one hand, and writing the best erotic short story, on the other. New for this year is a parade to honour the old cannon of the Victor Balaguer Museum, since our neighbour town Sitges claims that it is theirs.
The carnival ends on Ash Wednesday (Dimecres de cendra) when the remains of the carnival king is paraded through the town in a sad and solemn procession, ending at the Plaça de la Vila. There, sardines are being served as a reminder that the carnival is over and the forty days of Lent (quaresma) - leading up to Easter - have started.
- - -
Those of you who do not plan to come here will be able to follow the main events of the Carnaval de Vilanova here on this blog, get more details in Joan Ignasi Gómez’ blog in Catalan and watch reports by local TV channel Canal Blau.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Catalonia, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova
Monday, 16 February 2009
ENG: Warming Up the Children for the Carnival
The Carnaval de Vilanova is what will dominate the social and public life of this town during the next two weeks. Yesterday when our sons tried their fancy pirate dresses for the first time, both of them were totally excited. Today, however, the little one refused to put it on. The preparations which they made in kindergarten last week - putting on odd socks one day and painting the nose red the day after - do not seem to have brought him into a carnival mood.
But this evening, when we came to the first children's carnival of 2009 at the so called envelat, both children were highly content. The five-year-old was dancing around with one of his class mates, while his younger brother spent almost an hour sitting on a chair, eating a huge magdalena. Things certainly could have been worse.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Festa, Penedès, Vilanova
But this evening, when we came to the first children's carnival of 2009 at the so called envelat, both children were highly content. The five-year-old was dancing around with one of his class mates, while his younger brother spent almost an hour sitting on a chair, eating a huge magdalena. Things certainly could have been worse.
- - -Technorati tags: Carnival, Festa, Penedès, Vilanova
ENG: Vilanova Versus Sitges - This Time in a Music Challenge
The carnival of Vilanova i la Geltrú is here and since we compete with Sitges in hosting the best carnival, what better way can there be to start the festivities than to challenge them in music - the Competències Musicals?
The weather today served as a reminder that the carnaval, after all, is a winter event. Still quite a lot of people turned up to hear the Vilanova's music school Mestre Montserrat play from one side of the Plaça de les cols and Suburband from Sitges from the other.
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Technorati tags: Carnival, Festa, Garraf, Penedès, Sitges, Vilanova
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