Spain festivals Essays - Monsters, Santa Tecla Festival,

I want to tell you about one of the Spain festivals. And it isnt Tomatino. The Santa Tecla Festival is a festival held in Tarragona. *Tarragona is a port town located in the north-east of Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. The formal name of the festival is The Santa Tecla Festival. The festival is actually the series of events held during September. But it reaches the peak in days around the Saint's feast on the 23rd of September. It has been celebrated since 1321 and it is considered of national touristic interest by the state. *Let me start by saying that the festival was named in honor of Saint Thecla. Saint Thecla was one of early Christians. She belonged to one of the communities set up by Saint Paul. She is the patron saint of the Catalan city of Tarragona. There she is known as Santa Tecla. Naturally, the locals have the festival dedicated to her. It has the status of traditional festival of national interest. What happens is this. The festival has 3 main parts: a procession, human castles and fireworks. *Each afternoon and evening different characters dance their way through the town in a full traditional folkloric procession. The big procession has been part of the festival since the 19th century. *The procession includes various characters from the Bible like Christ, Apostles, prophets and virgins. Also you can see some amazing monsters - *Dragons, Oxen, Lions, Mules, Eagles and the Cucafera. *Cucafera is the type of monster that has been symbol of evil since the Middle Ages. Nowadays it lost lot of its dark character as it throws sweets out of its mouth. The Eagle has special importance for the locals because it is the symbol of the city. *Next part of the festival is human castles (in Catalan castells). Castells are towers made of human bodies. Castells had been built since 18th century. *And they were declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. *Castells are performed by special teams. Santa Tecla Festival includes performances of four teams two who are the best at the moment and two from the last year festival. Castell traditionally has four levels. But the tallest tower was created by 10 levels. *The formation of castell is finished when the person called the enxaneta climbs on the top and raises his hand with four fingers erect. These act symbolizes the stripes of the Catalan flag. *Of course national dances and cuisine take a part on the festival.* Spanish people are very friendly/ So many dishes are offered for free. The climax of the festival is fireworks on the beach.