ALCALA DE XIVERT - FIESTAS 2012 English

2012 – an Olympic year!  And for 10 days Alcala put on its own Olympian show, with opening ceremony, closing ceremony, feats of strength, endurance and skill and unending entertainment!  
The “warm up” took place on Friday and Saturday, 17th and 18th August with a 24-hour 7-a-side football marathon, water party, paella competition, supper and disco!  The ‘Malpensats’ group were the “Pre-Fiesta 7-a-side” champions for the second year.  There were over a hundred players and hundreds of spectators – all enjoying themselves!
The Fiestas Patronales in honour of St. John the Baptist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus then started the following Friday with a Barbecue party for everyone, celebrating the end of the year for the 2011 Festeras.  There was an amazing atmosphere, in anticipation of the fiestas to come.  Wine, water and desert were provided by the Council, and the townspeople just had to bring their own meat to cook on the barbecues placed around the plaza Juan Vilanova.  Music was provided by the “Els Llauradors” group, who played popular songs, leading to a big ‘sing-along’!  After this the music changed and the disco was lead by local DJ’s Ximo and the singer Dayan Soul.
Then it was ‘up early’ the following morning for the 8th Walk in the Sierra d’Irta, organised by the Club Muntanyenc Serra d’Irta.  200 runners took part, and it was won by Javier Lozano, the long distance runner, in 1 hour 8 minutes, followed by José Ángel Ebri Traver and Miguel Ángel Martínez in third place.  Of the local runners, José Ángel Ebri was the leader followed by Carlos Adell and Vicente Guillamón.  Local ladies also did well, with Mari Carmen Traver winning outright in a time of 1 hour 38 minutes, followed by Miriam Sorigó, who took third place on the podium, and Felisa García.  Laura Martínez was second in the race.  And the veterans were not far behind, with Antonio Belmonte winning the men’s class and Marina Pons the ladies’ class.

For a second year, the “Tapas Route” was available every day of the Fiestas between 12 noon and 3pm – all the town’s bars were serving a beer and tapa for 2Euros!
There were guided tours to the Bell Tower and the Traver Calzada museum, as well as guided visits to the Xivert Castle.

The Fiestas always include music, and the Alcala “El Repiquet” drummers accompanied the 2011 Festeras as they ‘bowed out’ during “La Crida” at the end of their year.  This event included fireworks, oversized balloons, streamers, the “Els Babarots” stilt-walkers, the “Lo Xular” group of pipes and drums, the ‘big heads and giants’, giving rise to much excitement among all the folk of Alcala!!
Later the same night in a Gala Ceremony, Marina Herraiz, Yaiza Sorlí, Cristina Mundo, Karen Blázquez, Beth Traver y Mar Bort were proclaimed as the Alcala Festeras for 2012.  A massive crowd watched the ceremony, held in the Church Square, with the Parish Church as the incomparably beautiful scene for the event.  Mayor Francisco Juan thanked everyone, local residents and visiting dignitaries, for their support, saying that “he hoped from the bottom of his heart that everyone would enjoy the fiestas and all the events of the following days”.

On Sunday there was fun for the children in the morning, and then in the afternoon a Quail Shooting Competition organised by the Club de Caza La Atalaya – Tiro Olimpico San Pedro.
The evening saw another procession with colourful floats with all the 2011 and 2012 Festeras, the El Repiquet drummers, the traditional dancers, the 'dolçainers', Aires de Alcossebre, the El Senyo alternative bulls and the Babarots stilt walkers providing some of the best moments in the procession which also included more fun from the ScuraPlats group. There were Giants, big-heads, the Santa Cecilia band... it really was a varied parade with constantly changing entertainment.  But there was more to come later that night when the Santa Cecilia band presented their traditional pasodobles concert in the Church Square.  This year’s innovation during the concert was a display of the beautiful dresses of past years’ Festeras’, dating as far back as 1979.  They were modelled on the red carpeted walkway by attractive local girls, some of whom were wearing their own dresses.
There was daily activity in the bull ring – providing excitement for the young men as they tried to get near the bulls without being caught by them!  These events are accompanied by the Santa Cecilia band, and watched by hundreds of people sat high on the rows of seats around the ring.  Prize bulls and cattle herds were all exhibited from local breeders and breeders from other towns.  There were also the El Senyo alternative bulls, on wheels, to entertain the children.

But there was excitement of a completely different sort in the games championships taking place in various bars and the Pensioners’ Hall – chess, short tennis, billiards, table football, ping-pong and guiñote (cards).
Patience and creativity were on display with exhibitions of paintings, furniture restoration and delicate bobbin lace-work in the Abadia.
On Monday, the big event was the “Tombet de Bou” provided by the Council – attended by over 2,000 people in the Lo Campanar school playground.  This ‘friendship’ supper was followed by music and dancing, and really demonstrated how much the people of Alcala drive and support the fiestas, and organise such events so well for everyone’s enjoyment.
Tuesday afternoon saw more energetic activity with the race up the Alcala Bell Tower!  This was the second time it had been held and last year’s record was ‘pulverised’ by Alejandro Broch, who finished in 30 seconds!  Pedro Blasco was second in 36 seconds, with last year’s winner, Xavi Cano, 41 seconds, in third place.  This is a truly original race, and its success is reflected in the number taking part.  Whereas last year there were only a few brave enough to tackle the climb, this year many more signed up for the race, which is becoming a regular Fiestas event which is not to be missed.

For those who prefer to keep their feet on the ground, two exhibitions opened – one in the Kangaroo Bar of pictures of the best known places in Alcala-Alcossebre, for visitors to vote on their seven preferred places, and choose the “7 Meravelles Gaspatxeres” – the 7 Wonders of Alcala-Alcossebre.  The other exhibition was in a shop next to the chemist in the calle Juan Barcelo, of work and handicrafts carried out in the last year by members of the Alcala de Xivert Amas de Casa.  There were examples of bobbin lace-work, painting, collage, patchwork and a beautiful traditional dress made by one of the members for her niece in the dancing group, all on display.

That night there was the traditional Serenata in honour of patron saint, St. John the Baptist, presented by the talented Santa Cecilia band under the expert direction of Juan Serra Ferrando, with the floodlit Church as backdrop.  We were treated to a wonderful concert of melodies from the musical theatre and cinema – Jesus Christ Superstar, Beauty and the Beast, Grease, Cabaret, West Side Story, The Lion King, Mamma Mia! and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins, which ended with an explosion of streamers from the band!

Wednesday was the patron saint’s day, and there was another walk, to Murs and the Valle del Ángel, which started early on Wednesday morning.  When the walkers had departed, there was another innovation, organised by the Local Chess Club –  Live Chess games, replaying two famous matches between Lasker and Thomas, called “The infernal journey” and considered ‘a pearl’ by the organisers, and “the Match of the Century” between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972.  The chess board was set out in the Church Square and the live ‘pieces’ moved quickly as they were given their instructions by the narrator.  This event was much enjoyed by players and watchers alike.
The day’s activities continued later with the traditional service in the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, sung by the Parish Church Choir and followed by the procession through the streets.  More energetic activity followed with a football match between Alcala Football Club and Almassora Sports Club, a draw until - unfortunately -  the home team lost just two minutes before full time!

Thursday, the Day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, saw celebrations for both young and old.  There was a service for the elderly, followed by a lunch for them.  There were visits to the “Xivert Castle” exhibition in the CESAL, with pictures and paintings depicting the castle and a lecture on the latest painting techniques and the history of art.  For the youngsters there was a play park and a foam and water party in the school’s playground and later a children’s party, with a visit from “Mickey and Minnie” to take them down to the bull ring for fun with the El Senyo alternative bulls.  At 7pm there was a service in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, sung again by the Alcala Parish Choir, and followed by a procession through the streets.  The day ended with dancing – a great performance by the local association of traditional dancers, accompanied by “Lo Xular” pipes and drums, and then dancing for everyone to music celebrating “the Golden years of Spanish Pop”, by Dalai and a Tribute to the group Mecano.

By Friday the ‘early starts’ were a little later than at the start of the Fiestas!  The Mountain Bike race, organised by the Xivert Cycling Club-BBT Serra d’Irta did not start until 9am.  The youngsters had another opportunity to dress up in their white and red “San Fermin” outfits for more fun with El Senyo’s alternative bulls in the bull ring.  As the day progressed, the local ‘collas’ groups took over events with a fancy dress parade leading to a supper for them all in the bull ring, followed by games such as egg and spoon races, sack races, tug of war and a multitude of other daring activities, all with prizes at the end for the winners.
Friday night also saw the arrival of the Harley Davidson and Custom Bikes, marking the start of the 9th Alcossebre Harley & Custom Rally.  There were demonstrations of stunt riding in Alcala and Alcossebre, vast paellas and ‘bocadillos’ for the participants and over 2,000 bikers in the town, many with their gleaming machines on display in the Paseo Maritimo and blaring a trail as they processed through the town.  Of course this event would not be complete without the stalls selling Harley t-shirts, cowboy hats and other memorabilia, and the wonderful concerts on the stage set up in the Paseo Maritimo.  All this is organised each year by Custom Maestrat and friends with the support of the Council.
Sunday night was the occasion for the fireworks ‘ceremony’.  The ‘correfocs’ – a fireworks procession – all along the Avenida Héroes de Maruecos - is something special for Alcala.  With the whole street plunged into darkness as the street lights were turned off promptly at 11.20pm, the men from the Castellón Fireworks company Baldayo, in their fire-proof, hooded robes, controlled all sorts of catherine wheels, rockets, etc., some of which were attached to an enormous wheeled machine, as they passed along the road, between the people on the pavements.  The crowd followed closely behind, keeping a wary eye on where the next stream of sparks would come from, as at various points along the route there were fireworks strung across the street.   The whole procession was timed to arrive at the end of the road just in time for the three rockets, the signal telling everyone that the magnificent aerial firework display was about to start.  The display was of wonderful, deafening, rockets, lighting up the sky with reds, greens, golds and silvers, making all sorts of patterns and leaving little puffs of smoke behind to be blown away by the breeze.  A worthy celebration to mark the end of Alcala Fiestas 2012!
Now it is Alcossebre’s turn............!