FESTIVALS

FESTIVALS			DATE			PLACE
Festa do Roscón			Easter			Caldas de Reis
Santa Rita			May			San Clemente-Campelo
Corpus			May/June			Caldas de Reis
Sacramento			June			San Andrés-Segade
San Antonio			June			San Andrés-Paradivas
San Juan			June			Caldas de Reis
Perpetuo Socorro			June			Saiar-Cardín
Pena da Auga			July			San Andrés-Nodar
San Bieito			July			Carracedo-Campo
Virxe do Carme			July			Carracedo-Igrexa
Nosa Sra. das Neves			August			Saiar-Sequeiros
San Roque (patronais)			August			Caldas de Reis
Sacramento			August			San Clemente-Ribocias
Nosa Señora			August			Godos
San Xusto			August			Vemil-Outeiro
Virxe dos Dores			Septembre			Vemil-Follente
San Cristo			Septembre			Saiar-Igrexa
A Saleta			Septembre			Santa María-Tivo
Virxe de Fátima			October			San Clemente-Ribocias/Saiar

Giants in festivals.

CARNIVAL (SHROVETIDE) AND SARDINE FUNERAL: These festival take place before Lent and they are celebrated enthusiastically with costumes and gastronomy.
Formaly, people only wore old clothes ("choqueiros") and went out to play tricks on friends, relatives, neighbours and everyone without a costume.
Nowadays, carnival is mainly a "business": people don't play tricks on friends but they go to parades, contest... where they can win very good cash prizes. And this is not the "spirit" of this celebration in Galicia. We hope it will change for good.
The main days are Saturday and Shrove Tuesday and, at last, on Ash Wednesday people cry the end of carnival at the "Sardine Funeral". The poor sardine is thrown into River Umia after a procession accompanied by jaugling music and stinking incense. This pagan show was always organized by a typical bar called "O Muiño" till 1999 when it was organized by the Council.