Each year in January you can celebrate the Fiesta of Sant Sebastiá, the patron saint of Palma.
Just when you think its´s all over, ( Christmas, The Three Kings and Sant Antoni ) Palma gets into party mode to celebrate its patron saint , Sant Sebastià. Why not come and visit ?
The week long fiesta culminates on the 19th January, the eve of the saints day on 20th January.
The city of Palma is buzzing. Party-goers young and old, friends and family are out and about having a great evening.
On the eve of Sant Sebastià a huge fire-breathing dragon “Drac de na Coca” appears with a parade of drummers (Batucadas) on the Plaça Cort. Together they form a procession to the Plaça Major where the Drac de na Coca lights the fire which signals the start of the celebrations.
You will see giant figures (Gegants) and huge heads (Capgrossos) parading to the sound of the Xeremiers ( similar to bagpipers )through the streets of Palma with drummers and dancers.
There is music in all the plazas across the city, Plaça Cort, Plaça Reina. Plaça Olivar, Plaça Espanya each hosting different bands from swing to pop, jazz to classical as well as DJ s spinning their sounds. Choose your music and your plaça and join the party.
Families, friends and visitors head out to mix and mingle on the fiesta of Sant Sebastià armed with their evening picnics of drinks and butifarra (sausages) to cook on the communal barbecues you’ll find lining the streets.
And then of course there is the Correfoc where the locals dress up as demons and devils and run amongst the crowd setting off fireworks and pyrotechnics. The Correfocs are especially impressive in the Old Town where narrow streets cause unusual echoes.
Sant Sebastià is revered in Palma as the saint who save the city from the plague. When a bone from his arm came to Palma in1524, it was thought to have brought an end to the plague that had engulfed the city.
The origin of the the fire-wielding demons and devils who run through the streets to ‘burn the city’, is thought to come from chasing the plague out of Palma. The night ends with a huge fireworks display outside the cathedral to mark the end of the celebrations.
But for many locals and visitors alike, the night has just begun!
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