The History / The 7th of september, the festival Eve / Celebration of the virgin's birth /The ascent and descent

The History

The origins of Solsona’s main festival go back down to 1653. Catalonia had suffered the defeat of the Segadors war (1640-1652) and soon after there were bad harvests due to bad  droughts. Moreover there was also the Bubonic plague spreading in the country. It was this devastating context that fostered a vote or promise to the virgin of the Cloister, this was an ancestral tradition in Solsona.

In 1652, when doctors had no remedy left to fight the Bubonic plague, they began to pray to the Virgin of the Cloister. According to chronicles, after the prayers nobody else died and the consuls asked for a very solemn procession on the Nativity day. The 1st of September of the following year the virgin was proclaimed the patron virgin of Solsona. This is how the main festival of the virgin of the Cloister originated.

The old tradition of the dances and the performances from the Corpus Christi processions were reintroduced for the parade. Solsona was one of the first towns in the Iberian peninsula to celebrate the Corpus Christi. During the following 25 years, the celebration grew bigger and in 1675 the programme had the same structure as the present one. This is why this celebration can be considered one of the oldest in the whole of Europe.

During the 18th and the 19th century the celebration reached its highest point and this festive frame became integrated in the city as an almost intrinsic fact, it became part of Solsona’s people.

In our times, Rome gave the official and canonical acceptance of the virgin of the Cloister as the patron virgin of Solsona. At the beginning of the 20th century the traditional cultural associations were created and they become the soul of Solsona’s main festival until the Spanish civil war.

During the war, the giants that were kept in the Cloister chapel were burnt and only the animal figures that were kept in a storage room could be saved. The celebration spirit was soon  immersed in  the ill-fated political situation during Franco’s dictatorship regime. Then, the traditional Catalan damask bands were in some cases replaced by unfortunate Spanish flags. The religious events became very important at that time.

The main festival of Solsona has been through difficulties throughout the centuries and on the 23rd of April 1981 a document was signed by the three institutions that regulate the festival, the giant carriers, the town hall, and the Vint-i-quatrena. It was necessary to preserve the protocol so that future generations can see the traditions that have not changed for so long. In our century and in the previous one we have to highlight two facts. One is the permission that girls take part in the performance of the little horses and the Morris dancing as well as boys. The other was the celebration of the 350th  anniversary of the main festival and then some traditions were recuperated such as the decoration with flowers of the virgin’s chapel.

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The 7th of September, the festival Eve

The typical events of the Eve are the proclamation to everybody in the city that the celebration  begins. This is stated on the first documented programme from 1675. There used to be a public announcement with drums and trumpets while the bells were tolling. In the evening there were fireworks.

The present programme has not changed. At 12 o’clock, the bells toll. At 1 o’clock the giants and the other figures wait at the door, outside the town hall. The mayor announces the events from the balcony and a fire cracker marks the beginning of the celebrations, then the town crier invites everybody to take part in the celebration and asks them to put flowers or decorate the façades of the houses. On the main square there is the first explosion of the fire crackers. After this, the giants become the most important element of the passacarrers (procession) , they parade around the streets of the old quarter and they follow the old tour of the procession. There are the giants, the mule, the bull, the dragon, the horses, the town crier and a music band. After this, the giants go to St Joan’s square and they dance each dance getting faster and faster in time with the music.

At a quarter past eight the bells announce the first descent of the authorities to the cathedral. The town hall representatives only wear a sash and they go with  the Morris dancers to the virgin’s chapel. This event is called the Salve.

The clergy pray to the virgin Mary and at the end the Salve is sung. After this the town hall representatives walk along the main street that is lit with ancient fire torches, to go to see the fireworks.

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The 8th of September. Celebration of the virgin’s birth

Nowadays Solsona celebrates the birth of the virgin with a lot of events. In the morning the trabucaires wake people up by shooting in the air, going around the streets and the walls of the old town. At a quarter to eleven the authorities, together with the giants, the beast figures, the little horses and the Morris dancers go down to the cathedral square with the music band. At 11 o’ clock the bells toll and the bishop and other clergy preside the mass. After this they go to the main square where the dances take place and the authorities go back to the town hall and the giants do the last dance called the final.

After eating the traditional meal of the main festival, at a quarter past six people go to the virgin’s procession. The virgin and the different historical institutions go up to the square and the authorities go back to the town hall with the giants. This is the longest ascent . When they arrive at the town hall a couple of youngsters go round with a cap to make a collection around the streets.
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The ascent and descent

The basic outline of the main festival consists of a series of going down to the cathedral and back to the town hall by the authorities. With this we can see the division of the town in two parts, the church and the feudal lord that nowadays is represented by the authorities.  The town hall members, as representatives of the municipality, come out of the town hall and attend the religious ceremony, and then in turn, the church representatives go to the main square to see the dances. This is proof of harmony and shows the mutual effort to continue with the most representative celebration of the town.

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