#correfoc

[useless-catalanfacts]

All the devils' dances and dragons dance together at the end of the correfoc held in Sant Pere de Ribes (Penedès, Catalonia) before its festa major (Catalan holiday that each town/city celebrates on the day of its patron saint).

A correfoc (meaning "fire run" in the Catalan language) is an event held as part of a town, city or neighbourhood's festa major festivity, usually celebrated a few days before the feast day itself. On the day of the festivity and its eve, the traditional dances from the town will dance on the streets, including the fire dances like the Devils' Dance and the fire bestiary. But for the correfoc, the devils' dances, the dragons and other fire bestiary from the near towns are invited as well, each one accompanied by their drummers. All these fire beasts and devils dance on the streets of the host town. In some towns it's treated as a game where the people have to run faster than the fire dancers or dodge the fire. In some places like Ribes (this video) they all light up for one last song together in the same square.

Video by Drac de Sitges. The song is "Nanu" by the local band Bugies.

[cahierenblanc]

Correfoc (2024)

[nanaarc]

[Vlog] Festa de Tardor de Sant Feliu | La millor festa del 'Baixllo' i e...

[tinovalduvieco]

Correfoc Feata Major de la Minerva.

Calella.Maresme 21-09-2024

©Tino Valduvieco

[catalanadventures]

Ball de diablos, correfoc, en Torredembarra!

[mctutacara]

Reus, Correfoc de Misericòrdia 2023

[elmonstro]

Went to a correfoc with a friend tonight hell yeahh we danced with the devils and saw The Beast a big black cat dance with fire and the drums were sick 🔥🔥🔥

[aroaceofthesea]

I have plans for the three interesting days in la merce ive made it in life

[itsguysnightitsironic]

"Gresca i destrucció, riurem i ens penedirem, el cremarem el dimarts i patirem fins el diumenge."

"Party and destruction, we will laugh and repent, we will set him on fire on Tuesday and we will suffer until next Sunday."

I almost forgot the whole Carnestoltes and Vella Quaresma celebration when it literally goes hand in hand with OAUW themes.

Some context under the threat:

- The Carnestoltes i la Vella Quaresma represent the two extremes of the balance, the excess, "El rei Carnestoltes", and the abstinence, "la Vella Quaresma".

As the story sings: the King Carnestoltes brings party and joy for days, but after a whole week of partying, no sleeping and "sinning", the people find themselves exhausted, with their homes destroyed and no food for the winter.

So Carnestoltes is sentenced to death by the stake on Tuesday and on Wednesday "El dimecres de cendra" (Ash Wednesday) starts the 40 days of penitence (no meat, no eggs...) marked by the seven legs of the Vella Quaresma who loses one every week, ending in Pasqua (the return of Spring).

-The style is inspired by the nostalgia and softness of Pere Torné Esquius illustrations.

"Venedora de globus" cap els 1907 de Pere Torné i Esquius.

-Also, also, the demons represent the Correfocs, pyrotechnics spectacles made by adults and children dressed as demons throwing fire and spurns around.

Diables de les Corts fotos de Albert Pedra 2019

Which is the coolest thing ever. Also there's dragons dances.

Correfoc de Manresa 2011

This is a threat for you to forget Sant Valentine and go watch Correfocs-

[erikadawndraws]

“visual journal, 4th september 2024: my homage to catalonia aka my home country (one of many). I absolutely adore going back and seeing my friends and family, but can never shake the feeling of melancholy either. like going back to a place that fills you with so much nostalgia yet still feeling disconnected from it somehow. piñas al revés a las 19:00 en mercadona, blasting sabrina carpenter on the plane to and from el prat airport, and looking at all the photos my mum has of me as a toddler on her mirror. we watched el correfoc for the festa major and I remembered how much it used to scare me as a little kid. beach and suncream. wearing old 2010s clothes from my teenage wardrobe. warm 30 degree sun.”

follow for more on instagram ✨🩷

[useless-catalanfacts]

I have been lucky enough to attend a few Correfocs in Barcelona

Do you have any useless facts or stories about Correfoc

It's good to hear you could go, correfocs are very fun. I don't know how "tame" they are in Barcelona, since in Barcelona and sometimes other big cities these kinds of things often need to be more controlled. But in my town at least they're fun but also can be a bit scary if the devils chase you a lot hahaha.

Correfocs in the way we understand them now (inviting devil dances and dragons/bestiary from other towns, parading with the fire through the town interacting with the watchers, people joining in to dance under the fire, etc) is actually one of our most recent traditions, but it's so popular that nobody thinks it anymore. Obviously, they come from the devils' dance (ball de diables) that we've been doing for centuries, but historically they were done in a circle and not chasing the people watching, and the people watching didn't join the dance with the devils. That started happening since the late 1970s-early 1980s, when the fascist dictatorship of Spain ended (1978). After decades of prohibiting and persecuting many expressions of Catalan culture and imposing only the Spanish culture, suddenly after the dictator's death we found that we could celebrate our holidays again. People were so happy that the whole country got carried away and started celebrating many of the holidays that elderly people used to do as kids, even young people became so happy that they could participate in those things that they had always heard about at home but were forbidden or done secretly. There was a big revival for Catalan folk culture in the late 1970s and 1980s for this reason, and that's when they started inviting other towns' dancers and bestiary for the correfoc (the old way would be to just have the dancers and bestiary from that town) and people got carried away and joined in the dance under the fire. Since 1980, we see that every time more towns and cities are doing it like this, and by the 1990s it has become standard in most places. And we're glad they did!

[sofea-00]

De Correfoc

[dewydd]

hell yeah correfoc fit

[tinovalduvieco]

14a Trobada de Bestiari per la Festa Major de Sant Quirze i Santa Julita.

Calella.Maresme 14-06-2024

©Tino Valduvieco

[elpetitrossinyol]

Els DOFINS veuen les imatges que ens heu portat de les festes de la Mercè!! Descobreixen gegants, castellers, correfocs...