September – a big month in Catalunya and Sant Feliu de Guixols…
All of the Spanish and French summer-holidaymakers have gone home and all is a little more peaceful in Sant Feliu de Guixols! It is much easier to park, the sea and swimming pools are all still fine for swimming, there are still boat trips available as long as the weather is OK and there is little need to book a restaurant except at the weekends.
But Sant Feliu is by no means dead. We are into the run up to Catalunya day on 11 September and it is getting quite exciting…
On this page we mention some of the traditional September happenings although there will be many more each individual year…
The sea shanty and tavern song festival continues until the beginning of September and this is a real treat. Very Catalan and quite moving in places.
11 September in Sant Feliu de Guixols is “Catalunya Day”
La Diada is the biggest “celebration” in Catalunya. But by “celebration” we don’t mean rejoicing. On 11 September Catalans mark the date that they lost their independence in 1714. However, even though there is nothing to be pleased about from a Catalan point of view, it does not stop everyone commemorating the date with a very large party indeed!
One of the most exciting events to get to see is the “Correfocs” – basically “running with fireworks”. A whole town or village will be wired up with fireworks, professional firework runners will also have them strapped to their bodies, people dress up in hideous masks, bands play patriotic music and the most amazing sights and sounds ensue!
There will be the very patriotic sardanes danced everywhere. The band, using ancient instruments, starts up and two or three people will join hands, starting to dance. Then a few more people join and a small circle is formed with the joined hands held high. Bit by bit, more people join until you have a very large circle and everyone dancing! In 2013 Catalunya made the biggest human chain of joined hands ever! Sant Feliu de Guixols practiced theirs in the middle of August – including people in Kayaks!!
The feasting and dancing goes on all day and night, possibly all week… and an exceptional time will be had by all.
There are also many other things going on a little further afield from Sant Feliu de Guixols…
Some time during the first week in September we have the Festa Major of Olot, about an hour’s drive from Sant Feliu and well worth a day out even without the Fiesta. They really go to town with the festivities in Olot, including any number of firework displays, processions with gegants and capgrossos or giants and big heads (!), artisan markets, Castells (human castles), activities for the whole family and goodness knows what else!
Caldes d’Estrac (about 50 minutes from Sant Feliu) has similar (although not so large) festivities in the first week of September and is also worth a trip out.
The “Indian Fair” in Begur is a journey to the past over three magical days during which the town is transformed. It is a popular event in which the municipality remembers his past relationship with Cuba and the Antilles.
There are street stalls, Cuban products, dances, performances … and more.
There will be habaneras (sea shanties), dancing salsa, Caribbean folk songs, amid a festive atmosphere.
Begur is a 30 minute drive from Sant Feliu and the Fair is usually around the first or second weekend in September. You can see more on www.firaindians.com
On the second weekend of September, Castelló d’Empúries (about an hour away) goes on a thrilling journey back in time to the Middle Ages. The Land of Troubadours Festival transforms the town into a great cultural and festive venue as it relives its mediaeval splendour. Again, Castelló is worth a day trip in its own right.
In Girona you can get your Christmas shopping off to a great start by visiting the craft fair which takes place there every Saturday from 1 September to 11 December and goes on from 09.00 until 20.00.
There are lots of different stalls to explore along with Girona itself which is well worth a day’s visit.
The Fair takes place in Carrer Santa Clara, along the Pont de Pedra (the stone bridge between the old and new towns).
Girona also hosts a “Napoleonic Festival” – parades commemorating the historic events that took place in Girona during the Peninsular War in the Napoleonic Period.
Festivities include – recreation of battle scenes in full costume, artisans markets, demonstrations of traditional crafts and children’s activities.
This is usually around the second week of September.
Around the third week in September we have a “Festival of pirates” (Pirates i Corsaris a les illes Medes) in Estartit (about 45 minutes away).
The harbour of Estartit is taken over by stalls selling food, jewellery, clothes, arts and crafts, local children’s theatre groups putting on dance displays.
You can even take a boat to the Medes Islands and disembark (only time of the year this is allowed) – for the schedule of boat trips to the Medes Islands please visit the l’Estartit tourist information office.
La Mercé in Barcelona – what a fabulous spectacle!
Barcelona’s La Mercé festival…
…is an enormous street party, running for nearly a week up to 24 September. There are dragons, human castles, sardanes, music, feasting and goodness knows what else to behold. It goes on late into the night, so you might want to book a cheap place to stay for a night or maybe two, but that’s relatively easy. And when you come back to Maremar, you will really appreciate the peace, quiet and lack of jostling crowds!
Of course there are lots of other, smaller things on, but there is so much to do in September that we didn’t want to overload you with information. But to give you a small taster, the itinerary includes:
- The “crazy” antiques market in Palafrugell, with a special area for kids.
- The Cadaques Summer Festival
- “Bandit cuisine” at Sant Hilari de Sacalm, about an hour away by car.
- Any number of feast days nearby.
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