VERBENA SANTA ANA 2011.

TUESDAY 26th JULY 2011.

At 8-00am this morning the fireworks went off to start the' Santa Ana' Festival as the Chi Chi Pom Band woke up the village; Later this morning the children's games are taking place in Calle Mar;this evening after the mass in Santa Ana church the Municipal Brass Band will lead the procession and the Santa Ana Tableau through the village.Later in Calle Mar on the stage in front of the old Town Hall the Samba Band ' Kalima ' will liven up the night until the wee small hours of the morning ! Watch out for more pictures.

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PAMPLONA TODAY.

WEDNESDAY 6^th JULY 2011.

We have just been watching on the TV live coverage of the start of the ‘San Fermin ’ Festival from Pamplona, the capital of Navarre in Northern Spain which always takes place at midday on the 6th July. Dating back to the 13^th century the ‘ Bull Running ’ festival is the largest one of the year when over a million people descend on Pamplona,The pictures below are taken from the TV so are not top quality but still give you a idea of the atmosphere as the crowds gather in front of the Casa Conistorial waiting for the Mayor to launch the firework at 12-00 noon ! The first running of the Bulls is at 8-00am tomorrow and the festival goes on for seven days and nights; our friend Vidal once ran with the Bulls many years ago so he is a true ‘ Chipinazo ’

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EL ROCIO FESTIVAL.

MONDAY 24TH MAY 2010.

For most of the year the small hamlet of El Rocio is as deserted a place as you could wish to find, its wide sandy streets are lined with impressively large houses, but they are usually uninhabited – except at the time of the pilgrimage. The hamlet is situated in North East Spain, just below the border with Portugal, outside Huelva; it has a population of around 700 people but for the weekend of the “ Romeria Del Rocio ” it comes alive when over a million people throng the streets, the largest Catholic festival in the world !

The traditional pilgrimage can be traced back to the 15th century when the statue of the Virgin Mary, “ La Virgen El Rocio ” was discovered; it is kept in the enormous white church, the Sanctuario de Nuestra Senora de El Rocio – simply referred to as the “ Ermita ” Those impressively large houses in the village that I mentioned are in fact bases for the 95 brotherhoods,hermandades,who are the senior members of each romeria; the pilgrims “ Rocieros ” arrive with horses, wagons and elaborate flower-bedecked carriages and most of the female pilgrims are dressed in bright flamenco-style dresses, the men have short riding type jackets – traje corto – and wide brimmed boleros.

During the day the processions are chanting,clapping,beating drums,tambourines,and playing flutes and guitars; the whole thing is carried out to the accompaniment of fire crackers and shouts of “ Viva la Reina de la Marisima ” Long live the Queen of the marshland ! All this takes place with traditional singing and dancing, going on for hours, with the smell of fried peppers, prawns and sherry in the air; they also unofficially baptize the first time Rocerieros.

The climax of the whole festival comes in the early hours of Monday morning when the statue of the virgin is carried out of the church and paraded around the village; its frantic passing through the hands of the brotherhoods at times gets out of control as the crowds attempt to touch it and pass very small children above their heads at the same time; the whole experience is a strangely Spanish combination of religious fanaticism and serious partying !!

Needless to say we watched it all on the TV.

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MANILVA,FESTIVAL OF SAN JUAN 2008.

Monday 23rd June Festival of San Juan 2008.

After the celebrations yesterday we had a lie in before we started to plan the outfits for tonight’s festivities down on the beach at Sabinillas for the Festival of San Juan.At this time last year we had to sit and watch every thing from the Winnebago as I was still getting over the five broken ribs after coming off the scooter! We had an early supper as it starts to happen from 10-00pm onwards.It is one of the most important saints day’s of the year and all the locals in their thousands go down to the beach front to watch and join in with the party.The main square is covered with lights and a large stage is next to the front with a very hot 19 piece band that opens up the festivities with a selection of Spanish,Samba,Rumba and Popular music with 8 singers,4 girls and 4 men giving it all that they have got as you can see in the pictures below! Then at 12-midnight the very large tableau that has been built on the beach and is a different theme each year is set on fire by a fountain of fireworks! By then everybody has moved on to the front and the beach to watch and to dip their feet in the sea and make a wish!All of a sudden a 45mins. Musical fireworks display starts on the beach and they play Classical,Pop,Theme Tunes and Rock music all set to the firework display which is very spectacular as it happens right in front of you as you can see in the picture’s.As always in Spain all the families are out from babies to the grandparents with stalls selling food and drink from a very large outside bar,Manilva TV films all the proceeding’s and just two policeman are there to blow their whistles and control the crowds!!