Those of you who follow my blog regularly will remember that I mentioned I was going to be busy with the local festival (Festa Major), because at Sants 3 Ràdio, the radio station I volunteer at, we do a lot of extra live programmes during the week or so of festivities.
This part of Barcelona is called Sants (the whole district, the District of Sants-Montjuïc includes several neighbourhoods, but they have separate festivals). Its patron saint is Sant Bartomeu (Saint Bartholomew), celebrated on the 24th of August. Some of the streets work all year to create decorations and a programme of activities for the week of the festival. There is a jury that awards different prizes to the best street, and also to certain categories (creativity, historical accuracy, etc.), but at the radio we also run a popular vote, and we award a different set of prizes (sometimes to the same streets, but not always), so we have listeners calling and voting for their favourite streets. Local shops and institutions offer small prizes and gifts, and we run daily raffles, where the listeners can get some of the gifts (things like discounts in certain shops, meals at restaurants, cakes, other produce or products…), and we run other contests as well.
I answer phone calls and also give out gifts to those who come to collect them, and I’m also in charge of the raffle, so I’m kept busy. I also help at some of the live events where the radio goes and help with live connections, etc. So, it is busy.
I am sharing some of the articles we publish during the Festa Major, so you can get an idea of what goes on. The first one includes pictures of the decorated streets. The one that won the official prize is carrer Valladolid, and you will recognize the homage to Jules Verne.
Here, the official opening of the Festa Major. Two actresses read a manifesto and several authorities gave brief speeches as well:
Here, the mass and the offering of flowers to Sant Bartomeu:
The local market always organises another flower offering (as there is an image of the saint inside the market) and organize an appetiser for neighbours (seafood based).
There is also an international Chess competition:
The radio awards ceremony:
Every year, there is an event with the Castellers de Sants (els Borinots) a human castle group from the neighbourhood. They do a pilar (it’s a human tower with one person per storey, and it is called “pilar de 4, 5, 6… depending on the number of people and how high it goes) but this one is a bit special, because they walk, from a square where they traditionally do their shows in the neighbourhood, where the oldest church is, to el Parc de l’Espanya Industrial, a parc on the site of what used to be one of the biggest textile factories in Barcelona. This time the pilar fell before they arrived (only a few metres from la Casa del Mig, the place where they were headed), but it is an spectacular event, and the longest pilar caminant of the tradition castellera. I leave you their video about it. Oh, and don’t worry. Nobody got hurt. (And I’ve seen them do other amazing things, like go up and down a set of stairs, at the chuch, holding un pilar. You can check their account for more videos).
And the fireworks to put an end to the festa major (also organised by Sants 3 Ràdio)
And in case you wanted to see me doing a silly dance (I don’t do TikTok, but it was for the radio station… You understand)
And, if you want to see what we get up to the rest of the year, you can check Sant 3 Ràdio on Twitter , Instagram, or visit their news portal, el 3.
Thanks for your patience, for visiting, and always keep smiling and having fun!
Just Olga 