Javea Festivals
Javea's main festival take place during the last week
of August and the first week of September in the port area of the town and is in
honour of Our Lady of Loreto.
Rather than set up a temporary bullring and have bullfights as is the case in
the majority of national village fiestas, Javea provides quite a divergence from
the theme called Bous a la Mar (Bulls to the Sea).
A temporary stand is constructed in the port area with seats looking down on a
small man-made "beach" which is no more than 70m long by 20m wide. Along one
side of this sandy area is the stand for spectators and at the other side is the
sea.
A lorry arrives carrying up to six bulls and unloads them into a secured paddock
under the stand. A single firework goes off and the first bemused bull runs out
into the open sandy area where local lads run around attracting its attention.
Their aim is to bait it to attack them near the waterfront so that it will fall
into the sea.
What tends to happen is that the bull, which is not a stupid animal, quickly
works out the plan and runs along parallel to the water's edge showing its horns
to the local lads who throw themselves into the sea over and over again. A new
bull replaces the existing one after a while and the whole debacle starts again.
Occasionally a bull does end up in the water and is rescued immediately.
Many locals who have seen it all before prefer to place themselves at the
large temporary bar area which is set up next to the bull run area and spend the
week drinking beer and eating freshly cooked sardines. Definitely the more
interesting option.
Other events during Javea's festivals include Chess Championships, a
basketball tournament, a table tennis competition and various tournaments of
typical local sports. There is something for everyone with a special
children's days which includes a parade, games and free drinks and ice-cream for
all the children and a senior citizen's day which involves a lot of music and
dancing and free sangria. On various evenings there are large
neighbourhood dinners where everybody brings there own food and enjoys the
company of friends.
In the Valencia area fireworks and bangers are central to all festival and
Javea is no different. Often you will hear a cacophony of noise which is
from firecrackers strung up in the streets and their bangs echoing off the
surrounding houses. As in all "fiestas" in Spain music is very important
and many bands and groups play on different nights. The whole festival is
finished off by a spectacular firework display at approximately 1 a.m. on the
last night in the port area.
Other Javea Festivals
The festival of Jesus Nazareno is celebrated from the 28th
April till the 3rd May. This involves taking the statue of Jesus from
the Calvari Hermitage to the San Bartolome Church on the third Sunday of
Lent and then returning it on 3rd May. During this festival
there is also a competition of crosses made of fresh flowers.
During the last 2 weeks of June there is the Fogueres de San
Joan which involves large papier-mache 'sculptures' often of famous people
in sport or current affairs. On the 24th June, the feast of San Juan,
these large sculptures are burnt. In the days preceding this there are many
small bonfires in the streets which young people jump over to purify their
bodies.
At the end of July Javea celebrates Moros y Cristianos
(Moors and Christians) with mock battles and parades.
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