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There is no better way to
get to know the Andalucians than through
their many and fascinating feast days. The
local fiesta is the moment when every town
and village strives to put on a splendid
show, not only for themselves but also for
those who come from afar to admire and
enjoy. Over 3,000 fiestas are celebrated
every year in Andalucia, including fairs,
pilgrimages, carnivals, mock battles
between Moors and Christians and religious
processions, throughout the some 800
communities of the region.
In fact, there is scarcely
a day in the year without its fiesta, with
special emphasis on the periods before and
after the autumn harvests. Each town has
its own patron saint and yearly
procession.
Here is a guide to
the major fiestas which take place each
year in Andalucia.
Three Kings
Fiesta de Los Reyes.
This is the moment when the three kings of
Orient bring their Christmas presents to
the children, on the evening of the 5th of
January. Three men dress up as the kings,
one with a black face, and ride about the
town in a procession, scattering sweets to
the crowds of excited children. The 6th of
January is the public holiday in all
Spain.
Carnivals
As elsewhere in the
Catholic world, carnival is celebrated
before the 40 days of Lent. Most
Andalucian towns stage some kind of
parade, and there is usually a dance and a
"Carnival Queen" contest. As one of
Spain´s major ports during the 16th
century, Cadiz copied the carnival of
Venice, a city with which it had much
trade, and since then it has become the
liveliest and most dazzling carnival town
in mainland Spain, famous for its amusing
and creative figurines and satirical song
groups.
The Carnival centres
around Shrove Tuesday (February 28th 2006,
February 20th 2007, February 5th 2008,
February 24th 2009, February 16th 2010,
March 8th 2011, February 21st 2012,
February 12th 2013, March 4th 2014). Most
towns celebrate the carnival with
processions either the weekend before or
after. Larger towns have festivities
lasting all week.
The best-known
celebrations being those of Cadiz
Carnival. Other nearby towns such as El
Puerto de Santa María, Rota, San Fernando,
Chiclana, Algeciras, Medina-Sidonia and
Trebujena have lavish carnivals.
Isla Cristina and Ayamonte, are
also famous for their elaborate costumes
and excitement, drawing visitors from
throughout the region and the other side
of the Portuguese border as well.
The carnival is the
fiesta of the people. It is a reaction
against the abstentions and prohibitions
of all types. This fiesta attempts to
break social order and liberalise
instincts, helped by wearing masks and
fancy dress.
During the Civil War,
General Franco abolished the Carnival in
rebel areas. After the war there was still
much opposition to the Carnival by the
rulers so Franco abolished the Carnival in
1937. However, it continued in Cadiz and
some other towns namely, Ayamonte, Isla
Cristina, Fuentes de Andalucia, Trabujena,
and Benamajoma.
Easter - Semana
Santa or "Holy Week"
The Easter week
processions compete with one another in
luxury and splendour. The parades leave
each of the town´s churches to wind slowly
around the streets, with their lifelike
statues of Christ on the Cross and his
mother the Virgin Mary in mourning. The
processions are organised by the religious
brotherhoods, representing guilds of
tradesmen or other groups. They spend all
year long preparing the elaborate costumes
and decorations. This is a serious fiesta
and fireworks are not permitted. Drinking
and celebrating is still frowned upon by
many.
The most outstanding
Easter week processions are those of the
cities of Sevilla, Málaga and
Córdoba and Granada, though the
spectacle is worth seeing in any town or
village. In particular, Estepona,
Ronda, Arcos de la Frontera, Luque
(Saturday), Baeza, Cabra, Jerez, Rio Gordo,
Ubeda, Puente Genil, Huercal.
The processions take
place during the week leading up to Easter
Sunday. (April 16th 2006, 8th April 2007,
23 March 2008, 12 April 2009, 4 April
2010). The best days are Maundy Thursday,
Good Friday and Saturday. Easter Sunday
itself has less intensity generally.
Exceptions being the towns of
Castilleja de la Cuesta, Pillas, Coria del
Rio, Almaden de la Plata, and Setenil.
Seville Spring
Fair
The first of the summer
fairs (see section below), festivities of
the April Fair were born in Seville in
1847 and are a perfect expression of the
Andalucian personality. Always two weeks
after Easter Week.
May Horse Fair
in Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez holds the
Jerez May Horse Fair on the first week in
May each year, an spectacular equestrian
event, the Jerez Horse show takes place in
the Gonzalez Hontoria Park. Some of the
world's finest horses and riders compete
in the endurance trials, coach driving,
"pursuit and tumble" and dressage
competitions, with a stunning display of
the finest horses of the region.
May Crosses
May is a month of
festivities in Córdoba, starting with the
Crosses of May Festival (1st, 2nd
and 3rd of May which is Santa Cruz day).
The crosses identify distinct zones of the
town which compete for the prize of the
best floral decorated cross.
The preparations take
place secretly in the preceding months
when women and children use this
opportunity to sing and dance. In older
times it was an excuse for young single
people to meet.
The event is organised
by brotherhoods and financed by voluntary
contributions in the neighbourhood. With
the preparations made the crosses are
dressed and the fiesta lasts various days.
Representatives from each brotherhood act
as judges to vote on the best dressed
cross.
The local tourist office
will give you a map, as in Cordoba you may
need help to find the crosses. Other
village the dress crosses are Condado
de Huelva, Sierra de Aracena, Andevalo,
Almonaster la Real, Bonares, Ubrique.
Patio contests
The famous Cordoba
Patio Contest (4th to 15th May 2005),
in which home-owners compete for the prize
awarded to the most beautifully decorated
patio. The map provided by the local
Tourism Office will help you find the
competing courtyards which are open to the
public during the day. This one is not to
be missed for those who like flowers and
gardens or are just interested to look
inside the patios of private houses.
San Lucar
Manzanilla (Wine) Fair
A lively fair dedicated
to the Manzanilla which is a special dry
sherry wine produced in San Lucar de
Barrameda. This intense fair which is
organised by the town council and
supported by the local wine producers last
for several days about the third week in
May.
Rocío
Pilgrimage
Andalucia is famous for
its pilgrimages or "romerías" - so called
because pilgrims traditionally walked to
Rome, and therefore became known as "romeros"
- to popular shrines, around which fiestas
are held.
Many towns celebrate
their Romaria to a local shrine a few
miles away. It is a day in the countryside
visiting a chapel or a sanctuary.
Interestingly it is one of the few fiestas
that is celebrated outside the nucleus of
the town. The sanctuary is a physical and
a spiritual point of reference. The
departure from the town for the sanctuary
is a proud public ceremony with all the
necessary elements in a certain order.
Flags and standards carried are by
horsemen, decorated carts, men or women
who are serving a penance, then tractors,
lorries and all sorts of agricultural
vehicles. The municipal band usually
provides the music.
Perhaps the most
spectacular is the one devoted to the
Virgen del Rocío, popularly called "El
Rocio" for short. Nearly a million
people from all over Spain and Andalucia
make the long journey to gather in a small
hamlet of El Rocio in the
marshlands of the Guadalquivir River delta
(south of Almonte), where the statue of
the "Madonna of the Dew" has been
worshipped since 1280. The pilgrims come
on horseback and in gaily decorated
covered wagons from all over the region,
transforming the area into a colourful and
noisy party.
The climax of the
festival is the weekend before Pentercost
Monday (5 June 2006, 28 May 2007, 12 May
2008, 1 June 2009, 24 May 2010). In the
early hours of the Monday the Virgin is
brought out of the church. This remarkable
event is always televised.
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