A fête worse than death?

´A fête worse than death´ is the last thing that can be said about the folkloric festivals and feasts in and around Tarragona. There is such an enormous variety, great and small, modern and traditional, low-impact and high-impact, musical and gastronomical, religious and pagan, winter and summer, that everyone will find some event they like. The province´s tourist service publishes a guide of all festivals, with dates, places and descriptions, that should be the starting point for any tourist or visitor who wants to experience something more. A shortlist of what there is on offer:

1. Gastronomic festivals such as the calçotada festivities in the capital of calçots (barbecued spring onions dipped in romesco sauce, if you are new to this local delicatessen), Valls, in January; the cherry festival in Miravet in June; the ´sindriada´, a night-time watermelon festival in Llorenç del Penedès in August;

2. Winter festivals such as the Tres Tombs (or, Three Circuits) in Valls

3. Holy week celebrations, with some of the most spectacular occurring in Tarragona and in a little place called Vilalba dels Arcs;

4. Pilgrimages and holy processions such as the Mare de Déu de l ´Aigua (´Holy Mother of God of the Water´) procession in Siurana;

5. Bull festivals in the Ebro valley, completely unique to Catalonia;

6. Fire & Water festivals, with traditions such as the San Joan bonfire and fireworks in every city and village; and the feast of Sant Magí in Tarragona on the 18th of August when miraculous water is brought on horse-driven carts from the village of Sant Magí de Brufaganya to Tarragona;

7. Historical re-enactments such as the Renaissance festival of Tortosa, the Siege at Miravet (narrating the story of the Knights Templar), Tarraco Via and a Moorish festival in Móra d´Ebre;

8. Patron Saint´s festivities all year round but especially in the warmer months, with the Santa Tecla festival of Tarragona and its giants, large-headed dwarfs, ´devil dancers´, mythical beasts, castells (or, human towers) and pyrotechnics as one of Catalonia´s best patron saint festivities worth experiencing for its folkloric richness.

And the list goes on and on. Bored will be the last thing you´ll be. Check out the brochure on this site. The Santa Tecla festival has its own website.