Murcia
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Entierro de la Sardina - Burial of the Sardine
Murcia
18th April 2009
The Burial of the Sardine, the climax of the Spring Festival, is Murcia's wackiest night of the year with a crazy cavalcade of "giants" and "big-heads" (gigantes and cabezudos), torch-bearers and entertainers, demons and Brazilian samba groups. Read MoreJust when you think you understand what 'The Burial of the Sardine ' is and when, along comes a sardine to be buried a week later in Murcia. This sardine festival is a long held tradition started by students in 1850 who wanted to carry on the party for another week and relive the carnival. This is Murcia's craziest night of the year and is seriously whacky one of the wildest nights in Spain.
In Murcia you will see the "sardinero" groups in the enjoyable "Entierro de la Sardina" parade featuring ' the big heads' and 'giants'. Also featured are Brazilian samba groups , torch bearers, entertainers and demons. In honour to the Gods of Olympus the members of The Sardinero associations throw hundreds of thousands euros worth of toys to the crowds.
Prior to this in the days preceding the big event the city is filled with street entertainment and a constant sream of processions and displays by the sardinero association brass bands. The following day is the big cavalcade, which has two different parts: the "cabecera", with "giants and big-heads", carnival groups and brass bands; and the floats, dedicated to the gods of Olympus, where thousands of toys are thrown out into the crowd. They all accompany the sardine to the place where it is burned, with a firework display and a huge people's fiesta that lasts into the early hours. On the night of the eve of the Burial, the Testament of Doña Sardina (Ms Sardine) is read from the balcony of the Town Hall. The fiesta ends in the early hours of the morning, when, once the last float has finished its round, a papier-mâché effigy of the Lenten sardine is burnt in Plano de San Francisco amid public rejoicing
MURCIA - OFICINA MUNICIPAL DE TURISMO
Plaza Cardenal Belluga. Edificio Ayuntamiento - Murcia
968 358 749
informacion.turismo@ayto-murcia.es
www.murciaciudad.com
Tourist Office:
Tel. +34 968358749 Fax +34 968358748
Entierro de la Sardina
Murcia
The Burial of the Sardine, the climax of the Spring Festival, is Murcia's wackiest night of the year with a crazy cavalcade of "giants" and "big-heads" (gigantes and cabezudos), torch-bearers and entertainers, demons and Brazilian samba groups.
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