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Monday, August 18, 2008

Chaotic Frenzy

La festa de Gràcia, 2008 has officially opened and the barrio of Gràcia is full of life for the next seven days!

On Friday, about 8 am, cannon like sounds were heard throughout my neighborhood announcing the Feast of the Assumption, a Catholic, HOLYDAY of obligation, the festa of Gràcia AND

A HOLIDAY, meaning a day off for the majority of the people.

We headed for placa Rius y Taulet and didn't expect the crowds that had already gathered there.

plaça Rius y Taulet

plaça Rius y Taulet, 2008

Of course, we were about 2 hours behind everyone else and I suspect some fun stuff had already happened.

When we got there, we followed the sounds of pulsating drums and saw people rhythmically moving and swaying.

I excused my way through the crowds, and I could see the TALL PEOPLE dancing in the middle of the placa.

Devils danced and the crouching dragon I mentioned in a previous post was there including Gaudi's lizard.

These 2 animals charged the toreador who then pierced its skin. This is the closest I will probably get to a bullfight, even though I think all there knew they were not really real bulls.

Next, other devils, I think, dressed in yellow pants and blue capes dancing in a circle told us to move further away.

I hesitated just enough to see the entire sky lit with fire and the sparks landing on my body, singing my skin in places it shouldn’t have been.

A burning feeling told me shouldn't be there.

plaça Rius y Taulet

plaça Rius y Taulet, 2008

People were scattering everywhere.

I got some photos of people running and you can see the black devils shooting the fire crackers and smoke is everywhere.

I felt like Robert Capa (the famous war photographer) but really, I don't have deadlines to meet, ( no, it's true), I don't get paid ( yes, even truer) and this blog is purely for fun (that's a fact).

I've got to prioritize my free time better, I think.

When all calmed down, again some folks made a circle and shot what I think were muskets. For them to shoot again, they had to fill the barrel of the rifle with gun powder.

Anyway, the photos on flickr represent about 2 hours of my day at Rius y Taulet.

It took another 2 days for my body to recover, to sift through the photos and to decide what to show for this post.

Wow … another 4 days to go.

P. S. Rius y Taulet creative theme seems to be the Smurfs. In my opinion, they are a contender for first place.

 la festa Gràcia, 2008View barcalunacy's la festa Gràcia, 2008 FLCKR photoset.

1 comment:

  1. what a Grand moment you captured in these pictures ... SO alive and full of spirit! They fittingly describes the frenzy of this fiesta. Great!

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