Festivals In Spain

1. Festivals In Spain Questions and Answers

2. What are the five biggest festivals in Spain? Describe them all and include when, who, why, where and what. • The Pamplona bull running is a part of the San Ferminfestival which is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. The first bull run starts at 8am on the 17th of July and it finishes at the same time of 14th of July. Bull running history is not clear, but there is evidence of this festival in the 13th century where it took place with the festival, San Fermin.

3. Las Fallas • The festival of Las Fallas is celebrated in Valencia. The official focus of this festival is St Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. This festival started in the middle ages when carpenters used to hang up planks of wood in the winter to support their candles. That then developed into the huge papier mache figures of today. The figures are put on fire and then there is a fireworks display later on.

4. Mock battles • The festivals of Moros y Cristanos take place in Spain every year. There are over 150 different types of the festival. This festival takes place from April 21st to 24th April. The best on is in Alcoy in the province of Alicante which commemorates the battle of Alcoy in 1275 when St George helped defeat the Moorish forces lead by Al Azraq. There is lots of noise as the Christian and Moorish armies march around town. On the final day the Christians are defeated.

5. Semana Santa • Semana Santa is known as the holy week in Spain and is celebrated through Andalucia. The festival takes place the following week after the Easter weekend and consists of lots of floats. Many of these floats are religious works of art each showing a part of the Easter story. Semana Santa is a very religious occasion and the mood changes everyday. The route and the times of the Semana Santa changes every year.

6. Massive Feria • The Feria is a fair which occurs in April in Seville, it is a huge annual event. The fair begins on Monday at midnight, 2 weeks after the Semana festival and ends with a fireworks display the following Sunday at midnight. The fair in Seville is very colourful, there are over 1000 marquees at the event and ongoing performances, loud music and a bar. The other main themes of this event are horses and bullfighting. There is also a procession called the Paseo de Caballos in which local girls in the full flamenco outfit are pulled through the city in carriages.

7. Why do people in Spain throw tomatoes at each at the tomatina tomato fight? The tomatina festival is held in Spain every year. It is purely for fun. It started in 1945 when a group of young men had a fight in the middle of a parade of gigantesy cabezudos. Near them was a vegetable stand so they grabbed tomatoes and started throwing them at each other. The police broke them up and they had to pay for the tomatoes. The next year on the same Wednesday of August some people brought their own tomatoes and recreated the fight. They were again broken up by the police. This happened for a few years before it was finally banned for good. In 1957 some people decided to hold a funeral for the festival, alarmed at the amount of people who turned up to the funeral it was made an official festival with some rules.

8. Do people dress up to go to the Feria Goyesca, if yes what do they dress up as and why? • Yes people do dress up in the Feria Goyesca. There is a procession with horse drawn carriages where everyone dresses up in 18th century Goyesque costumes. The tradition of this festival comes from the times of the celebrated painter Francisco de Goya dates back to just 1954 when a local bull fighting hero Antonio Ordonez arranged the first Goyesque festival in honor of the 200th anniversary of Pedro Romero who is considered the founder on modern bull fighting.

9. How old do babies need to be to take part in the baby jumping festival and why does it take place? • Babies who take part in the baby jumping festival are newborn. When they are jumped over it is supposed to cleanse them of evil doings. Anyone who is not blessed lives life looking over their shoulder waiting for bad things to happen t them. Once they are adults they can choose to take part in a jump through fire on December 21st.

10. Why is All Saints Day important and when does it take place? • All Saints Day (Todos Los Santos) is held on November 1st. It is an important national public holiday where people go to their hometowns and lay flowers on the graves of their relatives. There are no religious days that mean as much to the ordinary Spanish people as All Saints Day. It is based around the remembering of dead relatives.

11. What is the origin of the Sherry Festival in Jerez de la Frontera and how long does it last? • The origin of the festival is the annual celebration of the grape harvest. This festival takes place on the first Saturday of September which lasts three weeks. This festival involves sherry, horses and flamenco. • I think that the sherry festival occurs in September because that may be the season of grapes and that is probably when the sherry is made from the grape harvest.

12. What is the feast of Saint James and why does it take place. • Saint James is the Patron Saint of Spain. The annual feast takes places in Santiago de Compostela on the 25th of July. this festival takes place because on the 25th of July a sumptuous procession of the order follows the Archbishop, dressed in silver vestments, as Saint James entered the Cathedral nave.