Guide
A seguici is not a parade, and a correfoc is not a procession. If you have just arrived in town, here is what each thing is and how to take part.
These explanations are ours, written to help you get your bearings; they are not from the official programme. The times and places are.
The formal procession that opens the festival: every folk-culture group in town takes part, one after another, in a set order. It is not a street parade and you do not walk among them — watch from the pavement and let them pass. It ends in plaça Major with the showcase dances, when each group performs.
See in the programmeFire devils with firework-loaded pitchforks run through the streets while drummers set the pace. You can run under the sparks, but wear cotton, closed shoes and cover up — never synthetic fabric or flip-flops. Always jump forwards, and never stand between the drummers and the firework bags. There is a children’s and youth correfoc beforehand, which adults may not join.
See in the programmeHuman towers. The local team are the Capgirats, and for Festa Major they invite two more teams. The crowd packed at the base — the pinya — is what holds the whole structure up: if you are nearby, do not walk through it or take photos from inside. The tower is not complete until the child at the top raises a hand and everyone comes down intact.
See in the programmeThree- or four-metre figures carried and danced by a single person inside. The plantada is when they are stood up in the square so you can see them close before setting off — the best moment for photos. The capgrossos are the big-headed figures that chase the children.
See in the programmeThe night side of the festival, at Pla de la Bruguera. The bars are built and run by the town’s own collectives and colles, not by a company: the bar is theirs and the takings go back to the groups. Four nights of concerts until five in the morning. There is a fixed and a roaming Punt Lila every day.
There is a new one every year, in Castellar’s colours, handed out free at the information point in plaça d’El Mirador while stocks last. Wear it round your neck or tied on your head — at the correfoc, cotton and on your head, where it also protects you.
Danced in a circle, holding hands, and anyone may join: you ask by lifting the joined hands of two dancers and they make room. The trick is counting the steps; if you cannot, join a circle of older dancers and follow. The cobla is the wind band that plays them.
See in the programmeSailors’ songs that travelled to Cuba and back. They are sung sitting down, with a glass of rom cremat in hand: rum, sugar, lemon and coffee, set alight in a pot until it flames. You do not need to know the words, though the third glass usually helps.
See in the programmeA downhill race of impossible hand-built vehicles with no engine, which often do not reach the finish in one piece. Watch from behind the barriers and never step onto the course. Half the fun is the descent, half is the design.
See in the programmeSix wooden skittles and three throwing sticks, rolled along the ground rather than thrown through the air. Played on packed earth; it takes aim and calm rather than youth or strength. The town has its own club, Club Bitlles Colobrers.
See in the programmeA route with stops at several venues, everyone together and at the same time. The Correbars is run by the town’s traders through the local bars; the Correlokals is run by the young people of Vilabarrakes and ends at the barraques. You walk it, and you drink little at each stop — otherwise the route ends early.
See in the programmeCloses Festa Major on Monday night, at the Pla de la Bruguera sports area. It is the moment the whole town looks up at once, and when the last bang fades the festival is over until next year.
See in the programme