MURCIA FESTIVALS
FERIA DE SEPTIEMBRE ( SEPTEMBER FAIR)
The most traditional holiday in Murcia is the September Fair, because its celebration dates back to the privilege of Alfonso X of 1266. Originally this festival was strictly commercial, but in time it gradually started incorporating fun and festive activities. And in recent years, the celebrations became bigger than the fair: this is the moment in which the September Fair in Murcia persists surviving through the agency of its bullfights, attractions and concerts or the Malecon Huerta barracks with its Huerta typical products tasting and Wine and Food, sampling, Folklore Festival in the Mediterranean, Cattle Fair, Moors and Christians procession, etc.
With references from as far as 1478, bullfighting is one of the popular local celebrations. Originally it used to be set in any sort of area that could be closed, until the eighteenth century when the Camachos Square bullring became its permanent home. Other major celebrations were theatrical performances organized by the City, which grew in popularity to the extent of leading to the construction of a playhouse in 1609 - with the funds of the Council –in order to replace the Ratchet theater that had collapsed . The current Romea Theatre opened in 1862.
The beginnings of the Spring Festival as an extension of the Carnival go back to the late nineteenth century. Initially called the April fair, it included as famous acts: the Battle of the Flowers, Bando de la Huerta and the Burial of the Sardine. They used to advertise events same way as nowadays through posters and programs in which have collaborated the most well known artists in our region.
Among the religious traditions, The Holy Week procession stands out prominently. Its origin dates back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when the first organized group processions of penitents were created, roaming the streets while wearing colored robes and covering their heads with hoods. The development of brotherhoods allowed this religious activity to get channel through the parishes of the city.
The local fair reunites plenty of varied activities bringing them together in areas as: the Malecon Huerta, the Amusement and Cattle Fair, Bullfighting or the Moors and Christians Pilgrimage.
In addition, the land of the Malecon Huerta has been offering the public a chance to sample the Wine and Food Fair in recent years.
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Celebration months: September, March and April.
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SPRING FESTIVALS
Bando de la Huerta
The Bando de la Huerta is the name given to the parade that takes place in the city of Murcia every Spring Festival Tuesday, a week after Easter. The parade consists of marching bands, giants, dance groups and floats pulled by tractors, in which typical vegetable and other elements of the Huerta are being exhibited. From these floats, people dressed in costumes of the old times serve typical cuisine food samples of the region, such as sausages or beans and beverages such as wine or beer. You can also taste local dishes such as: michirones , pipirrana or zarangollo , not forgetting the typical paparajotes.
Consequently, the name Bando de la Huerta is also used to refer to what takes place in this Tuesday parade, and to what this celebration ctually consisits of, considering that most of Murcia’s population spend the day on the streets, dressed in traditional huertanos costumes. The parks of the city center is filled with young people who come together to make “botelleo " ( enjoy drinking outdoors) which is allowed on this day .
The origin of this event seems to date back to 1851, the year in which wealthy young men agreed to organize it with the intention of somehow making fun of the Huerta people. Nowadays this type of reasoning disappeared completely and the Bando has become quite the opposite: a celebration in honor of the garden and its associated traditions, also including: concerts , children's workshops , etc. .
Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine)
The Burial of the Sardine is a holiday celebrated in Murcia during the Spring Festival, whose main event is a parade of floats that culminates with the burning of the sardine on the each Saturday after Easter. It is declared of International Tourist Interest.
Its beginnings go back to 1851, when a group of students wanted to imitate in Murcia the masquerades they had seen in Madrid.
All year round the so called “sardine groups” make preparations for this party. Within these preparatory acts the group name a Big Fish and a Doña Sardina each year since 1988, who symbolically preside the honorable celebrations. These are the naes of some of these groups in Murcia: Apollo, Achilles, Bacchus, Centauro, Warlock Center, Ceres, Diana the Huntress, Eros, Hercules, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Momo, Morpheus, Neptune, Odin, Pallas Athena, Pluto, Polyphemus, Saturn, Selene, Ulysses and Vulcano.
The week before the big parade on Saturday many small parades of bands and preparatory acts are performed, one of the popular traditions being the so called wake and the will of the sardine. The big Saturday parade is a mixture of carnival and mythology whose main interest is to distribute toys that get thrown to the public from the floats. The following act once the parade ends is it burning of a sculpture representing a large sardine, ceremony that normally takes place on the Old Bridge, succeeded by a great display of fireworks that puts an end to the Spring Festival. There are also different entertainment events, concerts or children's workshops included within the timeframe of this fun local festival.
INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORE FESTIVAL IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
The Folklore Festival in the Mediterranean acts as an integration element between different federations and associations of folklore, working with all of them, having solely the quality factor as criteria in the selection of the participating groups.
The festival considers necessary and essential having roots closely related to its city and citizens, and therefore it must have a strong popular content and big proximity to the people. The festival, declared of Regional Tourist Interest, counts on the presence of folk groups of the Region of Murcia and other foreign groups all brought together by the same passion. Here are some of the activities proposed: folklore exhibitions, Trovera evening (instantly improvised lyrics), films, fashion shows and various seminars.
The aim is to bring the folklore closer to the public by presenting it in an enjoyable way and making it part of the everyday environment, trying to achieve a symbiosis with the city. It also combines the character of modernity to tradition, and its purpose and philosophy provide a great cultural content for study and research. It is also an element to promote the city of Murcia’s customs and heritage. All participating groups become ambassadors of Murcia. These days the city is transformed into a never ending live stage sustained by the implementation of activities such as parades, different street and public square performances, the lighting of the Torch of Friendship allpleasantly surprising for the citizen.
In addition, the Department of Festivals and Popular Culture organizes jazz festivals, The Mediterranean Folklore Contest, The Tuna Band Competition also collaborating in others like The Lemon PopFestival or The Root Music Festival.
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