Calalan traditions

Today is the feast of Saint Jean and it is the day the flame is brought down from the top of Canigou, the sacred mountain. A large number of the fittest mountain walkers went up last night carrying faggots to light a large bonfire with the flame that has been kept lit since the previous year known as the eternal flame. This morning the flame was brought down to the village where our own fire was lit. It will then be taken on to thirty or so other communes in the department. The same thing happens over the border in Northern Catalonia. Essentially the fires celebrate the ancestral bonds of love and friendship between all Catalans everywhere – and by extension between all human beings. The children from the school added to the festive atmosphere with their dancing and the Cobla band provided the music.