la Festa dels Tres Tombs
John: ”What’s up with those cops and that crowd up the street?”
Abby: ”Aw man! It’s probably just one of those stupid festivals where they block off the street, everyone drinks a huge cup of beer, and then it’s over.”
John: ”Uh, yeah, which is why we’re going over there.”
And off we went, exactly half eagerly. But we were so wrong. Without knowing it, we had stumbled upon the world famous cavalcade of la Festa dels Tres Tombs de Sant Antoni. Amazing how that works.
You are thinking, that sounds pretty dark. Because tombs are for dead people and so forth. I was thinking, how could one guy have three of them? Well, a little digging put me right. First of all, Saint Anthony (spelled the English way) was a saintly guy who lived in Egypt, fourth century, and is probably buried somewhere there, presumably in one tomb. He was a hermit so he may have not had a showy funeral and all that. Nowadays he is remembered as the patron saint of animals–getting to the point, you see, with the cavalcade–and also the poor and the sick. This parade is given in honor of him, and it includes an animal blessing by a priest at the end for all the people who bring their pets to the festival.
There will be beer!
But what about the tombs, you repeat. There are no tombs, because we’re speaking Catalan here and “tres tombs” translates to “three tours”. Three tours, because the parade route is traversed three times by the old-school carriages of various professions. Makes sense, now, huh? The show included a horse-drawn fire engine, hearse, meat wagon, ale truck, and more.
Asses' shaved asses?
P.S.: Does the parade really trace the route three times? No, no it does not. But we like the idea enough that we still call it that.
Huh. That looks a lot like the parades in Dillon, MT: horses and carriages, asses and carriages, beer and carriages. But no saints — primarily Methodists in these here parts. Hope the beer was plentiful.
January 24, 2012 at 5:36 pm
Yeah, I imagine there are parades like this all over. I did note a twinge of Catalan angst in the faces and postures of the horse people, though. They seemed proud of their heritage, and proud to display it, but strangely aloof and even cold. It wasn’t a jolly affair.
January 25, 2012 at 3:07 pm
I love the midget horse/pony the little boy is riding on. It’s Little Sebatian! (Parks & Rec reference)
January 24, 2012 at 8:37 pm
Abby wants one.
January 25, 2012 at 3:08 pm
LOL: Abby “Aw man!”
January 24, 2012 at 11:41 pm
Looks like fun! Great commentary.
Mike & Elaine
January 25, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Thanks, you two! It will sure be great to show you around when you come over.
January 25, 2012 at 3:09 pm