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Navarre Holidays And Pamplona Holiday Attractions Navarre is a region in northern Spain that is bordered to the north by France, the Basque Country to the west, La Rioja to the south, and Aragon to the east. Similar to other regions of Spain, Navarre has its own parliament and government and is responsible for its regional education, health, employment, housing and environmental policies. Navarre is a cultural mix of the Basque influence from the beautiful Pyrenees Mountains and Mediterranean influences coming from the Ebro River. The Ebro valley is fertile and rich in nutrients making it amenable for growing wheat, vegetables, wine and olive trees. The river eventually leads to the Parc Natural del Delta del Ebro south of Catalonia on the Costa Blanca and offers some of the best carp and cat fishing to be found anywhere in Europe. Pamplona capital of Navarre Pamplona became the region's capital city in the 10th century and it is now home to a third of the region’s population. Pamplona has played a central role in Navarre history having been founded by the Romans, occupied by the Moors and briefly the domination of Charlemagne. Pamplona is a prosperous and modern city with wide boulevards and spacious parks. It is also listed as having one of the best standards of living in Spain. Pamplona is well urbanised with good road access and has some excellent historical buildings making it a pleasant tourist destination, especially in the old quarter, with it's cobbled streets. Pamplona is also the location for the world-famous Fiesta de San Fermín and the early morning 'Encierros' (Running of the Bulls) Fiesta de San Fermin (6th -14th July) The festival of San Fermín is a deeply rooted celebration held within the city of Pamplona. The event is known locally as Sanfermines, held in honour of Saint Fermin who is the patron saint of Pamplona and the Navarre region. It is probably the most internationally renowned festival in Spain having been central to the plot of Ernest Hemingway's book 'The Sun Also Rises'. The most famous event of the fiesta is the 'Encierro' or Running of the Bulls. Thousands of participants take their life in their hands by running in front of, alongside or preferably behind 12 or so mature bulls with sharpened horns along a half-mile stretch of cobbled streets in the old town. The event is not without risk and since 1924, 15 people have died. During the festival, the whole town is alive with party events, with celebrations spilling out from the bars and restaurants throughout the day. The south Navarre is typically warm and arid with a landscape typical to that of Castilla & Leon. To the north though are the Pyrenees Mountains, where the weather is cooler with much greater precipitation. This has resulted in a greener landscape with vast forests and varied undergrowth that support a wide range of fauna and flora. For walking and hiking holidays, there are two large National Parks to be found here, the Parque Natural de Urbasa y Andía and the Parque Natural del Señorio de Bértiz. Semana de Música Antigua During the first fortnight of September the week of Old Music in Estella is celebrated, in this beautiful city of Roman origin. Every year, the lovers of this sort gather in the Church of San Miguel, a lovely Romanesque building. Musicians of international prestige who specializein medieval, Renaissance music and barroca. ‘Escena’ Dance Festival end of March - early April Tel.: 848424685 E-mail: yosesper@navarra.es The ESCENA Dance Festival is a programme that aims to disseminate dance through all kinds of styles, including Baroque, Flamenco, classical ballet, contemporary dance, the latest hip-hop trends and works created for unusual venues, which are combined with other artistic languages such as video and the plastic arts. It takes pace at the end of March or beginning of April and features some leading dance companies, most of them from Spain. Performances are staged at the various Cultural Centres around Navarre. Alsasua Carnival February The rural carnival of Alsasua starts on the Sunday with the children’s carnival, but as night falls on the Tuesday it’s the adults’ turn, and the Momotxorros, characters who seem to have been resurrected from a prehistoric ritual, come out onto the town’s streets. Wearing horns and hiding their faces under headscarves, they are dressed in a white sheet stained with blood, sheepskin gilets, blue trousers, white socks and black sandals. They tour the town roaring fiercely and brandishing their wooden staves, goading and frightening everyone who gets in their way. The tradition was lost during the 1930s but reappeared in the 1990s, enriched by new characters: the Witches, followed by a satyr as if they were going to an akelarre (coven), and the Mascaritas, a character who existed back in ancient times who wears a brilliantly coloured damask bedspread over his head, tied with a rope and a pompom. Locality: ALTSASU/ALSASUA Zone: The Pyrenees Interesting links www.alsasua.net Date around the: 18/02, 20/02, 24/02 Alsasua Fair October The Alsasua livestock fair is held on the third Sunday in October, offering a living testimony of life in the town in the past. Various other elements have since been added to the fair to reflect the present-day rural world, such as exhibitions, crafts, competitions, etc. You can also sample and buy typical products from Navarre such as charcuteries, liqueurs, breads, candies, jams, oils, designation of origin wines, cheeses, etc. Locality: ALTSASU/ALSASUA (31800) Zone: The Pyrenees Website: www.alsasua.net/es/ferias.html Interesting links www.plazaola.org Artzai Eguna On the last Sunday in August, in Uharte Arakil, just a few minutes from Alsasua, the Day of the Shepherd is held - the Artzai Eguna. This is a colourful festival that pays homage to the traditional shepherds’ way of life. Numerous activities take place during the day and attract throngs of visitors. Some of the most popular events are the sheepdog trials, the mutton stew contest and the sheep-shearing competition. You can also see how sheep’s cheese is traditionally made, listen to the performances of different folk groups and enjoy a traditional craft fair, not forgetting the aizkolaris (wood cutters), harrijasotzailes (stone-lifters) and the bare-handed pelota games which demonstrate to visitors the essence of our traditions that are still evident in rural sports. Locality: UHARTE-ARAKIL (31840) Zone: The Pyrenees Website: www.artzaieguna.com Baztandarren Biltz Around end of July The Baztandarren Biltzarra is the biggest brotherhood festival celebrated by the residents of the Baztán valley during summer, with no particular fixed date. Elizondo is the setting for the festivities, which are unquestionably the most representative of the valley; they have been official since 1963. After a religious ceremony, the inhabitants of the 15 villages of the valley parade around the town’s streets on floats. After the procession, a mutildantza takes place in the Town Hall square to the sound of the txistu (Basque flute); it is an exclusively male dance in which the number of dancers increases as the tune progresses. The morning is rounded off by a mass lunch in Market Square. During the day, stalls are set up for exhibiting and selling local craftwork and produce and there are performances by various local bands. Locality: ELIZONDO (31700) Zone: The Pyrenees Interesting links www.elizondo-baztan.com www.baztan-bidasoa.com/Pais/Baztandarren.html www.bidasoa.com/conocenos/la_zona/folklore/ interior_folklore.htm |
More about Navarra
San Fermín, Pamplona
Bull Run
Sangüesa, the Castle of Javier, the Monastery of Leire and the Roncal valley. Monasterio de San Salvador de Leyre The Saviour in Falces Olite, Ujué, Monastery of La Oliva, and Valdorba lake at Pitillas La Ribera: Bardenas Reales, Tudela, and the Monastery of Fitero Autumn fair in Doneztebe/Santesteban Señorío de Bertiz and the Bidasoa valley Sierra de Aralar and the Leitzaran and Ultzama valleys.
Much of the worldwide fame of the San fermines is due to the references made by Ernest Hemingway in his articles as a reporter and in his novel "The Sun Also Rises", known as "Fiesta" in the Spanish-speaking world. The future Nobel Prize winner first visited Pamplona on July 6th 1923, accompanied by his wife, Hadley Richardson. The Sanfermines made such an impression on him that he returned on several occasions, the last in 1959. During his visits to Pamplona he usually stayed at the Hotel La Perla in the Plaza del Castillo. In those years it was quite common to see him on the cafe terraces of the Plaza del Castillo, running the bulls or avoiding the young bulls in the bull ring. These frisky animals gave him quite a few scary moments! A great admirer of the corrida and bullfighters, Hemingway never missed a bullfight. He was a regular in restaurants and bars such as Casa Marceliano. He tasted the traditional dishes of Navarrese cuisine here, and always kept the recipe for ajoarriero with prawns that his friend Matías Anoz gave him. Despite his tight festive schedule, he always found time to enjoy his favourite pastime, fishing, in the trout rivers of Navarre. One of these 'escapes to the countryside' is told in 'Fiesta' in the trip that Jake Barnes and Bill Gorton took to the Pyrenean valleys. Since Hemingway's' first despatches, many North Americans have come to Pamplona for San Fermín. Among them is David Black, who came 40 times; Matt Carney, who became a great bull runner thanks to his great friend and mentor, Jerónimo Echagüe; Alice Hall, Joe Distler, Ray Morton and the playwright Arthur Miller and his wife, the Austrian photographer Inge Morath. James Michener also portrayed the presence of foreign visitors to San Fermín in "The Drifters". Together with so many famous figures, people from all over the world follow the steps of Hemingway and come to Pamplona to get to know la Fiesta in situ. Carnival of Lantz Around the 18th - 20th February A long-standing rural tradition in which the forces of good and evil confront each other in a symbolic battle, during which the thirst for justice stirs up public rage. Every Tuesday during carnival week, in the little village of Lantz, the legendarily evil bandit Miel Otxin is imprisoned and sentenced to death by fire. The three-metre high effigy is dressed in a patterned blouson, blue trousers and a red sash, with his arms stretched out in a cross and crowned with a colourfully embellished conical cap. Various other characters accompany him on the procession: Ziripot, a roly-poly, good natured chap made from sacks full of bracken and hay who can barely stay upright; Zaldico, a wild horse which charges him until he falls to the ground; meanwhile, the Arotzak carrying hammers and pincers, runs behind El Zaldico to try to shoe him, and finally the Txatxos, enveloped in animal skins and armed with staves and broomsticks, bellow incoherently while harassing everyone present. Locality: LANTZ (31798) Zone: The Pyrenees www.pirineos.com Classical Theatre Festival July/August If you’re a lover of classical theatre, you should know that every year between the end of July and the beginning of August there is an unmissable event in the town of Olite. Over 15 days, the works of some of the greatest dramatists of all time, such as Shakespeare, Molière, Calderón de la Barca and Tirso de Molina are brought to life in front of the walls of the beautiful Royal Palace. The Festival has two open-air stages: one at La Cava for the main productions, with a capacity of 700 spectators, and another in the cloister of the church of San Pedro for smaller-scale productions. Locality: Olite Zone: The Central Zone www.elcultural.es www.lukor.com Type: Theatre Tel.: 848424685 Fax: 848424624 E-mail: festivaldeolite@navarra.es Bertsoara Programme March, October & November Bertsoaroa is a programme organised by Pamplona City Council and the ‘Friends of Bertsolarismo’ Association of Navarre which was established in 1987 with the aim of ensuring the dissemination and proliferation of this Basque language art. Bertsoaroa takes place at the end of the year and consists of performances by bertsolaris and conferences and concerts based around Bertsolarismo. This singing tradition, whose origins are lost in the mists of time, has been passed from generation to generation in homes and taverns, and the content of the ‘bertsos’ (verses) has remained unchanged, still touching on simple everyday issues in an improvised rhyming verse form. Website: www.bertsozale.com Tel.: 948143747 E-mail: nafarroako@bertsozale.com Carnival in Ituren and Zubieta These two neighbouring towns in the area of Malerreka, to the south of the Bidasoa valley, pre-empt the official carnival dates and hold a unique carnival during the last week of January. The central act consists of processions of the Zanpantzar along the streets of Ituren on Monday and those of Zubieta on Tuesday. The Zanpantzar, a company of Ioaldunak (cowbells) involving the residents of both towns, parade the streets costumed in sandals, lace petticoats, sheepskins around the waist and shoulders, coloured neckerchiefs, conical caps with ribbons and a hyssop of horsehair in their right hands. You’ll be deafened by the rhythmic din of the huge cowbells attached to the lower backs of the members of the cortege, which clang in unison with the rhythmic movements as they walk. Locality: ZUBIETA (31746) Zone: The Pyrenees Interesting links www.ituren.es |
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