St Augustine’s Fiesta
St Augustine is the patron saint of our local village of El Burgo and a fiesta is held at the end of August each year, usually 2 weeks after the one day Romeria (Gipsy Festival) and lasts for 5 days from Wednesday to Sunday. (or early the Monday morning) The Fiesta is a local event and everyone in the village takes the five days off as a local holiday whilst the rest of the world outside the village goes on as normal.
The Spanish really know how to enjoy themselves. Most nights the fiesta goes on to 4 or 5 in the morning. It is very unusual to see any bad behavior, men, women, old, young, children and babies in prams are in the streets all enjoying the events together. It is quite a sight to see a coach arrive from the neighboring villages at 2 in the morning and see a crowd of pensioners getting off. (Imaging a similar sight in the UK!)
St Augustine’s day, held on the Friday is the big religious day. After the church service there is a parade where religious effigies and icons are carried round the village to the accompaniments of the village band and firework rockets exploding all day. A large crowd turns out for the parade.
On the Saturday evening the village puts on a free meal for pensioners and invites pensioners from the three nearby villages to attend. About 700 people are wined and dinned and entertained for free. A presentation is help at the end of the evening where representative from each of the villages receive presents and local dignitaries make speakers thanking those attending for what they have done for the generations who have followed them.
On Sunday, the last evening of the fiesta the Bull Run is organized. In the old days bulls did actually run up and down the main street. Now the Bull Run is run by men dressed as bulls with fireworks packed on their backs who run up and down the street with fireworks exploding in all directions. Most people get into the bars and keep out of the way. A few young mainly men stay in the streets to show off their bravery.
After the event the 1000s of people who attended the evening went home around 6 in the morning without any trouble. Fiestas in Andalucia are great fun with each city, town and village organizing their own fiestas in their own traditional way. You never get bored with them because they are all so different, friendly and exiting.
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