Spring Festivals in Murcia
The Spring Festival is celebrated in Murcia the week after Easter. These are the most important festive celebrations in the Murcian city together with the Fair. The Spring Festivals are the most playful continuation of the religious festival that precedes it, Holy Week.
These festivities began under this name in 1899 and initially consisted solely of the Batalla de Flores and the Entierro de la Sardina, although the latter is an older parade (dates from 1850), as well as the Bando de la Huerta (which dates back to 1849). The two festivities, Bando de la Huerta and Entierro de la Sardina, arose as an extension of the carnival festivities.
Band of the Orchard
See the main article of the Bando de la Huerta
The Bando de la Huerta (Bando e la Güerta in Panocho dialect) is the name given to the big day of the festivities in the city of Murcia. Title that it shares with the Burial of the Sardine and that takes place on Easter Tuesday. It is part of the so-called Spring Festival, held the week after Easter. The day is in itself an exaltation of the orchard traditions, so closely linked to the history of the city. The vast majority of Murcians take to the streets throughout the day, dressed in the typical local costume. In 2012 they were declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest. This festivity is always celebrated on the Tuesday following Easter.
Election of Queen of the Orchard
Prior to the Spring Festival, a group of Murcian girls is chosen from among which a court and the Queen of the Orchard are selected, whose function will be to represent the city of Murcia throughout the country for a year. This title is similar to the Fallera Mayor of Valencia, or the Bellea del Foc in Alicante. The applicants must pass several tests where their communication skills and general culture are measured, in this way they try to stand out, in a certain way, from the mere beauty contest that it was in previous times. The winner thus obtains the Corona de Azahar, which grants her that representation for a year, until the next Spring Festival.
Huertan Mass
The festival begins with a Huertana Mass in front of the baroque facade of the cathedral, which is followed by a colorful Procession with the image of the Virgen de la Fuensanta, patron saint of the city.
Parade of the Bando de la Huerta
In the afternoon, the Parade of the Bando de la Huerta tours the city. The procession is made up of bands of music, giants and big heads, groups of dancers and floats, in which work and typical elements of the Murcian garden are shown. People dressed in period costumes dance the local jotas or distribute food typical of the region's gastronomy.
The parade aims to value the customs, labors and ethnological characteristics of La Huerta and the city of Murcia and encourage, through a cultural regionalism, the protection and care of these traditions, the dialectal characteristics, and even the own territory of the Huerta de Murcia as its own cultural idiosyncrasy.
This parade also shows the floats that accompany the Reina de la Huerta and her Children's and Youth Court.
Murcia in spring
On the day after the Bando de la Huerta, the parade "Murcia in Spring" is celebrated through the streets of the city of Murcia. With this exhibition it is intended to highlight the importance that "flowers have within the Region of Murcia", the flowers used to decorate the floats of the battle of the flowers, a parade that will be held the next day, They are supplied by producers and wholesalers from the Region or neighboring provinces and the Mercamurcia Flower and Plant Market will coordinate the entire parade.
Meatloaf Day
That same Wednesday, just after the "Murcia en Primavera" is celebrated in the Plaza Cardenal Belluga of the city at 8 in the afternoon on "Meat Pie Day", where several of the most important pastry chefs in Murcia distribute a large number of the tasty Murcian delicacy, accompanied by "Estrella Levante" beers.
Unlike the centuries-old celebrations that make up the Spring Festival, this celebration is relatively modern. In its short history, this party has become one of the most massive of the Spring Festivals.
In 2009 it brought together 10,000 people, while in 2010 the number increased to 15,000.
Its purpose is to publicize this food that is made throughout the Region of Murcia, especially characteristic in the capital. In this act we see a continuation of the principle of solidarity that governs both the Bando de la Huerta and the Burial of the Sardine.
Burial of the Sardine
See the main article on the Burial of the Sardine in Murcia
The Burial of the Sardine is the victory of Don Carnal over Doña Cuaresma, it is a pagan festival, of mythology and fire, and it is a magical night that must be visited in the city.
The origin of the Burial of the Sardine dates back to the mid-XIX century. The organization of the celebration is in charge of the "Grupos Sardineros" whose names respond to Greek and Roman mythology; and that during the previous days they animate the city extraordinarily with their parades. In particular on Saturday morning, on the boulevard of Alfonso X el Sabio, where a massive and informal procession takes place.
It is divided into three parts:
Arrival of the Sardine
Within the context of a gradual "crescendo" festive, the arrival of the Sardine is the first great act of the sardine festivities before the "Wake", the reading of the "Testament" and the final catharsis of the "Entierro" on Saturday night.
In the previous days, the purchase of sardines has taken place and the brass bands and parades have been spreading a festive atmosphere, while different events have been taking place organized by the sardine groups.
The long-awaited arrival of the fish occurs from a municipality in the Region that varies every year, the place of departure where, on the occasion of the farewell, a massive party is organized with parades and distribution of toys, anticipating what will happen days later in the city of Murcia itself.
Peculiar means of transport Another peculiarity is that the transfer of the sardine from the corresponding town is carried out in a different means of transport each year, having been used in previous editions from balloons to paragliders, passing through fire trucks and helicopters.
Testament of the Sardine
The reading of the satirical Testament of the Sardine is one of the important acts of the sardine festivities, within these it is preceded by the arrival of the Sardine and precedes the multitudinous Burial on Saturday night.
The Parade As an aperitif before proceeding to the testamentary reading, a playful parade unfolds through the main arteries of the city, in this way, in the midst of great merriment, the will goes through the streets of Murcia before its "solemn" #3. 4; reading.
Mrs. Sardine "Dona Sardina" She is in charge of exposing these last wills, always impregnated with a heightened sense of humor with which all areas of current affairs are parodied, without any subject, however thorny it may be, failing to be the object of generalized hilarity.
Latest Editions Normally the distinction of "Doña Sardina", and therefore that of the reading of the will, usually falls on a relevant woman in the field of communication media.
Thus, in recent years, the position has fallen to professionals such as María Escario, Patricia Betancort or Elsa Anka, with the former Miss Spain from Murcia being named Doña Sardina in 2006, María José Besora, in 2007 the journalist Nieves Barnuevo, and in 2008 Marta Valverde, in 2009 the journalist from Cartagena Noelia Arroyo, in 2010 the actress Pepa Aniorte in 2011 the presenter Eva Abril, in 2012 the singer Ruth Lorenzo and in 2013 the actress Belinda Washington.
Great Parade of the Burial of the Sardine
The Burial of the Sardine is a unique and original festival that takes place on the Saturday following the end of Holy Week, marking the culmination of the "Spring Festival".
The Burial takes us back to old pagan myths in which fire fulfills an essential purifying function, at the same time that it is an allegory of Don Carnal's victory over Dona Cuaresma, in which carnival returns to drive away rigors and privations of Holy Week just concluded.
The origin of the celebration dates from the middle of the XIX century, when a group of students who met in the back room from a pharmacy in San Antolín, they decided to form a funny funeral procession led by a sardine. From then on, the festival caught on among Murcians, growing exponentially as evidenced by its declaration as a festival of International Tourist Interest in 2006.
The celebration is organized by the "Grupos Sardineros", who designate a "Great Fish" and a "Doña Sardina" so that they respectively exercise the patronage and symbolic patronage of the party.
During the days prior to the Burial, Murcia is extraordinarily animated by the bustle of brass bands and street parades awaiting the arrival of the climax, on Saturday night, when a playful and diverse parade that amalgamates comparsas begins to meander, an articulated dragon, giants and big heads, that precede the "procession" of floats dedicated to the gods of Olympus.
The Burning
After the passing of the floats with their mandatory distribution of toys, the final paroxysm of the burning of the sardine takes place in the Martínez Tornel square, next to the Old Bridge, an event that is culminated with a pyrotechnic display as a ultimate counterpoint to the seclusion that Doña Cuaresma imposed in her recent reign of Holy Week.
Gastronomy
During the Spring Festivals, traditional food from the Murcian Huerta, a variant of Mediterranean cuisine, is consumed. During the spring festivals, open-air venues called Barracas are established, in which this type of cuisine is served. These shacks are built and supported by the different orchard clubs of the Murcia region. Among them we can find: Los Güertanos, El Apio, El Pimiento, El Pimentón, El botijo, La Esparteña etc.
As starters, there are cod meatballs, tuna with tomato, snails, Murcian salad, michirones, Murcian ratatouille, zucchini, young garlic omelette, broad beans, scrambled eggs with vegetables or zarangollo, sobrassada with cheese, lean meat with tomato, black pudding, sausages, longanizas.
Stews and meats, rabbit with cabañil garlic, stone paved, gachasmigas, fried lean meat with tomato, crumbs, mondongo, pork pot, gypsy pot, chard stew, wheat, vegetable rice, with rabbit and snails.
The desserts: rice pudding, fritters, fried milk, French toast and paparajotes.
International tourist interest
Murcia's spring festivals were declared of International Tourist Interest. All Murcians and Murcians had great enthusiasm and commitment that their most beloved festivities received such a distinction, and finally, in 2006 they were internationally recognized.
Official Pages
- Fiestas de Murcia
- FiestasdePrimavera.net - Web Created and maintained by Portal MurciaRegion.com
- Tour of the Burial of Sardine
- Official Programme 2012 (breakable link available on the Internet Archive; see history, first version and last).
- about the ball party
- Ball party