There is a major festival here in Alicante called “The Hogueras de San Juan” which translates to “The Bonfires of Saint John“. The tradition and history of this particular festival is very interesting. It originates from the tradition of burning useless objects with the arrival of the summer solstice. This is a popular festival and is celebrated in many cities and towns in Spain as well as around most of the world. In Alicante they have been celebrating the festival since 1928 with large effigies like the one pictured below from the early 1930’s.

One of the features of the festival is the creation of giant effigies that are made with cardboard, paper mache and wood. An identical smaller version is also made and all effigies are judged. The first place winner has their smaller identical effigy version saved and put into the Museu the fogueres. The remainder of the effigies including the smaller versions are then  burnt on the night of June 24th in a major festival.

Last evening we went to check out the Museu de Fogueres in Alicante. The museum is amazing with effigies of all sizes and shapes on display. Some of the displayed effigies are detailed with realistic renderings, while others are more whimsical in style.

The festival in Alicante began in 1928 and each year there is a winner added to the museum. It was hard to select only a few photos to show you because they are all fantastic. I have a  few of our favourites below.

This man and women are on display at the main entrance to the museum. They are the largest of the effigies on display and are approximately 15 to 18 feet high.

The pictures below are from the same effigy at different angles. There was so much detail it was hard to show it all in one photo. The size of the effigy was full scale with a desk, typewriter other items and  stood about 5 or 6 feet high.

Another effigy we really enjoyed was the cow. This effigy was about 6 feet high and the details were amazing.

There was also this very bad brood of kids with their dad. It made me laugh as it must have been a father that designed and built this effigy.

There were too many neat and detailed effigies to put each one separately into the blog so we have added a photo gallery. We hope you enjoy them.

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“Adios y que tenga un grand días”

 

 

 

 

 

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Palm Sunday in a major event here in Alicante. A few weeks before Palm Sunday, the open markets are selling palms for the upcoming event. There are  numerous vendors selling unique palms that are handcrafted with some very detailed and beautiful designs.

We bought two palms from the market in preparation for the procession that was on Sunday.

In Alicante Easter parades begin on Palm Sunday and continue daily until Easter Sunday. This is known as Holy Week and every day during that week there are  procession parades that take place.  They have different starting locations within the city and most pass through the main Avenue Rambia de Mendez Nunez.  We headed out to watch  one of the main processions which started at 11:30 am. There was a very large crowd of people gathered to watch the start of the procession. People in the procession carry large palms and the walk is very slow and deliberate with a live band playing music.

The procession starts with a single person at the from leading the process. They carry a symbol representing the procession.

There is music and a band playing a slow drum beat as the procession moves slowly forward.

There are hundreds of people who follow along in the procession carrying their palms. At the end of the procession is a single parade float with a religious representation on it.

The images above were from the first procession we saw. The second procession we saw was quite different. There were ladies dressed in black as if in mourning leading the procession.

There were people wearing blue and white cloaks and white hoods and they looked a little like the KKK. I have no idea what the hoods represent but it was a bit eerie to see. For us the white hood is a symbol of the KKK and represents evil and intolerance.

At the end of this procession there was also a float. This float was surrounded by people in white cloaks and hoods.

The processions last about 2 1/2 hours each and then there are other processions that start at 6pm and run into the evening. We stayed downtown after the processions and enjoyed the rest of the day. We took a walk out on the pier looking at the sea and then stopped for a relaxing drink.

Overall it was a very good day.

“Adios y que tenga un grand días”