#gegants

People from Olot (Comarques Gironines, Catalonia) gathered on the city's main square to watch the dance of the giants during their local festa major (patron saint festivity).

As we have explained in more detail before, giants are traditional hollow figures used in traditional Catalan holidays including festa major and Corpus. They have been used in Catalan holidays for 600 years. While a band consisting of traditional Catalan street music instruments play the songs, people go underneath the giant figures, lift them and make them dance to the music's rhythm, they dance through the streets and reach the main squares.

In some places, when they reach the town's main square or another significant and large space, they dance a special dance to a whole cobla (Catalan music ensamble, which you can see sitting down on the stage in the photo above). This can be dancing a sardana (traditional Catalan music genre and dance) or other music played with sardana instruments. (For example, in my town they dance a sardana and a rock'n'roll).

In Catalonia, the festes majors are very different depending on whether you are in "Old Catalonia" (the North-Eastern half of Catalonia) or "New Catalonia" (the South-Western half). While giants are present in all the areas, the New Catalonia festes majors are larger and have many other dances, while in Old Catalonia the giants become the protagonists of the holiday.

People from the Sant Andreu de Palomar neighbourhood of Barcelona, Catalonia, celebrating their festa major (local holiday) with the traditional parade of festa major dances, including the gegants (giants) figures.

Did you know that there's a little bit of Catalan culture in Ukraine? They are the Kyiv giants, created after the Catalan tradition of giants. In Catalan culture, each town or city has a couple of giant-sized figures that are taken out to dance during Catalan traditional holidays such as festa major (local patron saint day) and Corpus together with other traditional Catalan street dances. Very often, these giants represent the mythical founders of the town, characters of important local legends or history.

Barcelona (Catalonia's capital city) celebrates its main festa major for La Mercè. Since 2006, every year Barcelona invites a guest city to be present in the cultural activities of this holiday and take part in cultural exchange. In 2023, this city was Kyiv (Ukraine). Kyiv decided, not only to send Ukrainian dancers, but also to join in the festa major with their own couple of giants: Olga and Volodymyr. After the end of La Mercè, they have been taken to Kyiv.

I have not been able to find out if the giants still exist or it they have perished in Russia's attacks.

Video from the TV programme Gaudeix la festa from Canal Blau/La Xarxa+. English subtitles added by me.

--------------------------------------------------

El CABALLO es el protagonista absoluto

https://www.canalmenorca.com/bones-festes-de-gracia-2/

Con todas sus tradiciones

https://www.canalmenorca.com/festes-de-gracia/