festa major

Festa Major

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

Late night we made a last minute visit to the Festa Major at Bigues. We danced in the main square and ate chips then came home. It will go on into the wee small hours of the morning but I was happy with our short visit. In fact we only went because the Resident Adolescent needed a lift there and we decided to get off the sofa and go dancing!

Festa Majors are the celebrations that take place in every town and village to mark some special occasion or saints day. It is a real sign of summer than the festes are on and you can go to a different one every weekend. Granollers will spring into life at the end of August when there is a week long party with a full programme of events.

These community parties are funded by the local councils. I’m trying to imagine that happening in the UK. Imagine little Golowans happening in every Cornish village!

Festa Major II

~ Kate Wilson ~ Leave a comment

To be honest I haven’t seen much of the Feste and when I have gone to take a look it is getting dark and all my photos have been useless. The best thing that happened was that after I wrote the post with photos of Blaus and Blancs I received an email from someone who I didn’t know (always a pleasant surprise for a blog writer with a small readership) saying that he had taken the same photo as me, standing near me but without either of us knowing each other. Strange coincidence that we had a mutual contact who sent him my blog so he saw my photo. I liked it because it was one evening when I walked into town alone and had the familiar feeling of being among strangers – not expecting to see anyone I knew to say hello to. It’s something funny in Granollers – I am more likely to bump into someone in Barcelona! Or it can feel that way…
Last night we went to dance in the square in front of the church – a band played rumbas and walzes and salsa and swing and it was very nice to just dance together with a few hundred other people, after midnight, in the warm darkness.
One image I caught was of the group called the MacHaguns (a play on the words ‘ma cago’ meaning ‘ I shit on….something) who wear kilts and affect some affinity with Scotland???? This one is interesting – a man in a kilt with a fan! Not often seen in Glasgow.Note the shoes – they are traditional Catalan espardenyes – made with cannabis plant and cotton and once manufactured in the family factory here at home.