The Strange Valencian Traditions of Corpus Christi
You don`t have to be Roman Catholic or even religious to enjoy the festivities of Corpus Christi in Valencia. This festival, which occurs sixty days after Easter, is one of the biggest festivals in the city, and every town and village in Spain celebrates it differently. For example, in some towns, they make carpets of flowers. In other villages, you will see elaborate dragons dancing in the streets.
To an outsider, Valencia itself has a lot of strange traditions on this day!
The festival itself began in the century XII and has continued to evolve since then. The very first thing you will see, is a very popular character known as El Capellá de les Roques. He rides on a horse wearing all-black and bordered by the senyera, and invites people to participate in the parade.
Many different traditional dances are done during this time, but perhaps the most unusual and popular one (and the one everybody likes) is the dance of the Moma and the Momos. La Moma is a man dressed as a woman, in all white, with the face covered. La Moma signifies virtue, and "fights" against the personification of the seven deadly sins.
La Moma, surrounded by els Momos (with the bright-colored outfits)
Nanos i Gegantes
This is a dance where charicatures symbolizing people of all types from around the world (and their faith in Christ), come together. Nanos is the word for dwarf, and gegantes are giants. They dance to traditional instruments including the tabalet (a type of drum) and the dolçaina (a type of flute).
A short video showing the highlights of the festival:
There are magnificent statue carriages known as rocas that are paraded through the streets, and as you will see in the video, flowers fall like rain from the balconies. The carriages are beautiful works of art, with the oldest one from the XIII century.. They show various scenes from Biblical times and many different Biblical characters accompany them. The rocas are a uniquely Valencian feature of the Corpus Christi festival.
L'agila - the eagle. There are several real and mythical creatures in the parade, including
a turtle and a dragon.
One of the most popular parts of the parade is the degolla. The word degolla means throat-cutting, and it symbolises the King Herod`s order to execute the innocents. In the parade, the degollas have long plastic sticks and sacks of sweets that they throw in the air. If you are close, you might get tapped with the stick. People in the balconies take revenge on Herod`s soldiers by throwing buckets of water on them.
During the festival, you will also hear the bells of the Micalet bell-tower, and you will definitely hear firecrackers.
Why Are There So Many Different Events That Don't Seem to Have Anything to Do With Each Other?
That's a very good question, since there are everything from giants and dwarves, to dragons and Biblical characters and strange costumes. The reason for different traditions has been lost through the centuries, since there were several times throughout history that the festival has been nearly lost.
Even when it was declared by the church that there be a festival held sixty days after Easter, there was no clear guide on what to do or how to celebrate, so every town and village celebrates the way they want! Although there are some solemn parts, it really is the idea of having a party just to have one! When you think about it, do you really need a reason?