Farners Choral Festival

On Easter Tuesday, caramelles and singing in Farners.

Santa Coloma de Farners has a longstanding tradition of singing caramelles (typical Catalan songs sung to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ) at Easter, and the highlight is the Choral Festival, celebrated every year on Easter Tuesday in Farners. In Santa Coloma, Holy Week lasts one day more than everywhere else, and this day is the town’s second or third local festival (alongside the Town Festival and the Ratafia Festival).

In the morning, the whole town is woken up by noisy rockets and firecrackers, and everyone who is able to climbs up the mountain, some on foot and others by car, towards the Farners esplanade. They spend the whole day there, between the castle and the hermitage, one of the few days that visitors are allowed inside.

Early on, a Mass is celebrated to commemorate former singers, and the rest of the day is spent having fun, with traditional games for children, which adults will inevitably join in with, singing caramelles, eating a hearty lunch and above all, laughing and good humour, finishing with sardana dances, (a traditional Catalan dance).

At the end everyone returns home, some on foot and others by car, all eag erly anticipating next Easter.