Have you ever been to a human tower festival? On our last day in Barcelona, a quick train ride took us about 45 minutes south to the beautiful city of Sitges and La Festa Major.
In a town of about 30,000 people, and one that is normally quite quaint, La Festa Major de Sitges is anything but! It draws some 200,000 people each summer to celebrate their patron Sant Bartomeu. In the scorching heat of August, we found ourselves in the middle of one of the biggest, oldest, and loudest Catalan festivals.
La Festa Major dates back to the 16th century. We managed to get a great spot on the old road of Cap de la Villa. This tiny cobblestoned-street leads out to the main square, where locals peer out from their balconies from their lil’ Spanish apartments to catch a glimpse.
Catalan drummers and giant puppets parade through the streets, locals break out in traditional La Sardana folk dancing, and castellers build wonky, but courageous human towers.
At dusk, locals shoot fire crackers in every direction in the streets and then catch fireworks right on the beach after dark. We could hear tons of explosions coming at us at every angle!
Sitges is the perfect place to experience a Catalan festival. The city is tagged the St. Tropez of Spain with 17 sandy beaches, but there’s a long-standing bohemian spirit here too.
Watch the video of humans climbing on top of each other in Sitges then read my post to learn more about this old Catalan tradition.
When to go: Every August
Best way to get there: Take the RENFE train from Passeig de Gracia metro; 4€ each way.
Sherry Nash says
Looks remarkable! Catalan drummers and band would be my favorite part I think Thanks Cristina
ayngelina says
Looks fantastic…and now on my long list of places I should visit.
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Cristina says
Thanks Ayngelina! It's definitely worth it. It's an easy day trip (and cheap too!)
Dan says
Wow. You don't find many festivals like this. It was great to experience it in person. I really enjoyed the random fireworks displays all day throughout the streets.