Poster for the Parrandas
Spain celebrates Father’s Day on March 19th, which is St. Jospeh’s Day (St. Joseph being Jesus’s earthly father.) So fathers will get gifts and charming, wobbly cards made at school.
Since the Spanish name for St. Joseph is San José, the village of San José will be celebrating too (although the main fiesta is for St. Anne, in July). Although the 19th is Monday, most of the events happen over the weekend.
On Friday 16th, an exhibition of crafts opens in the parish hall (near the new church). It will be open from 5-8 pm until Monday.
At 7:30 pm there’s a film “Hangover in Las Vegas” (in Spanish) in the square in front of the Town Hall. And at 9:30 pm there’s a disco.
On Satuday 17th the local walking club will be hiking up near Acropark, cyclists will be racing up the main street at 10 am, bouncy castles will be bounced on and kids will be painting pictures from 4 pm. At 5pm the petanca tournament starts (it’s a kind of bowls) and at 6 pm there’s a wheelbarrow race. then at 8:30 pm there’s the “Noche de Parrandas“.
So what’s a Parranda?
It’s a sort of informal music group – something between a performance and a jam session. So if you can sing or play well-known Spanish songs, you might be able to join in.
On Sunday 18th there will be more bouncy castles from 4:30 pm.
And on Monday 19th – father’s day itself – there’s a special mass sung by the local choir, followed by a procession.
