A Hilarious Experience

One thing was lacking in our Axarquian holiday - a feria. So we set off up the mountain again, to Comares, to the last day of their feria in honour (incongruously) of San Hilario de Poiters.

We saw their traditional dancing, and then waited outside the church for St Hilary to be brought out on the shoulders of several brawny men, and set off at a precarious angle, followed by a brass band and folk carrying candles, to the main plaza - all accompanied by deafening fireworks. Eventually he was brought back to his niche, and everyone gathered to listen to a couple of excellent (IMO) bands on a massive stage. A few of us danced.

Some experiences are hard to fully take in... how can one adequately appreciate dancing at midnight to a Spanish band, in a plaza filled with friendly folk - babies asleep in pushchairs all the way to grannies with flowers in their hair - in an ancient Moorish town on the top of a mountain??