Friday 26 October 2012

Penedès is Cava, Wine, Human Towers, Sardana and… Faraday Independent Music Festival


When I write this, it is raining heavily in Vilanova i la Geltrú, in the coastal parts of Penedès, but according to the forecast, we will have a quite nice weather this weekend, October 26-28. True, it seems it will be better here along the coast than in the inland and, true, temperatures are expected to drop quite dramatically from Saturday to Sunday. But still, it is autumn so what did we expect, after all?

Below are a few tips on things to do while full events calendars in English can be found here.

In case you come here as cava and wine tourists, then the wine harvest festival in Sant Pere de Riudebitlles (Alt Penedès) is the main event, but – in case you are interested in the Catalan language – you might also want to go to the presentation of wine related drinking songs in Vilafranca del Penedès (Alt Penedès). As a contrast, in L’Espelt (Òdena, Anoia) there will be a craft beer fair.

For those who want to explore typical Catalan cultural expressions there will be human tower exhibitions (castells) in Sitges (Garraf) and L’Arboç (Baix Penedès), both visited by some of the best teams in Catalonia. In Piera (Anoia) you will be able to see a typical festival parade (cercavila) with giants, monsters spitting fire and devils dancing under it. The Catalan national dance – sardana – will be performed in El Vendrell (Baix Penedès) as well as in Sitges.

For those of you who prefer contemporary culture, the autumn edition (taking place indoors) of the independent music festival Faraday in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf) will be a warmly recommended alternative.

Fans of sports, finally, can find a roller hockey derby in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (Alt Penedès) – that is, if you prefer to watch – and – in case you want to sweat a bit - a mountain running race in the areas around Capellades (Anoia), where the Neanderthals used to live some 55.000 years ago.

The summer is gone – but Garraf, Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès and Anoia still havea lot to offer. Discover Penedès!

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Attention: Thursday, November 1, next week is a public holidayTots Sants.

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