A long-awaited month for the pegolins and pegolines. In February, Pego celebrates its mythical and beloved Carnestoltes. This year the complete trilogy of events returns, beginning with the Bullent River Baixada, followed by Festival of Performing Arts and, finally, with the recovery of the pinata or burial of the sardine that returns after the worst moments of the coronavirus pandemic.
A show that will go around the world
The highlight will be the Festival d'Arts Escèniques on February 18, a proposal that dresses the streets in gala, transporting neighbors and visitors to other corners of the planet or past times. For this third edition, the theme of around the world has been chosen to wink at the fifth centenary of the first circumnavigation of the globe carried out by Elcano and Magellan. A proposal that will direct, for another year, the choreographer Marc Pons from Pego.
At 19:00 p.m. the show will begin in Plaça de l'Ajuntament, where one of the seven stages dedicated to a well-known corner of the planet will be located. India, the African continent or China will be some of them. As in previous years, residents and visitors will be able to take a tour of the different sets with different themes located in the streets Ecce Homo, Capitán Cendra, Sant Jaume, Sant Agustí and the last one, in Pla de la Font.
At seven strategic points there will be musical shows, uninterrupted, until 22:00 p.m. More than 200 artists will participate in them, many of whom will be residents of the town belonging to dance academies or different local cultural associations.
The final climax of this third edition of the Festival d'Arts Escèniques will take place at 22:00 p.m. in the last of the stages, that of Pla de la Font. There the majority of the participating artists will congregate to star in the great final show and give way to the second part of the Pego Carnestoltes, the most traditional and well-known.
The party continues through the night
After this last show, the music will start at Pla de la Font, by the Pegolino DJ Pablo Alemany. It will be, especially from this moment on, when the pegolinos, pegolinas and visitors take to the streets with their original costumes to experience another special night.
The music in Pla de la Font will continue until 00:30. A few minutes before, two other musical shows will have started, one in the Plaça del Mercat, by the La Pato orchestra, also with a Pegolino singer among its ranks. The second party point will be located in Plaça Antic Regne in Valencia, where the music will be provided by DJs such as Álex Femenia, Javi Boss, Eleazar or Mitch Van Staveren, among others.
Carnestoltes for the little ones
The new format of Carnestoltes that combines tradition and new shows will not be the only highlight of this party so deeply rooted in Pego. In fact, in order to achieve that rooting, you must experience the festival from a young age, so the morning of Saturday the 18th will be dedicated to boys and girls.
Boys and girls will take a tour of some of the streets of the municipality dressed up in their best clothes. The journey will end in Plaza Maria Cambrils, where a show starring Dani Miquel will take place.
The Baixada del riu Bullent kicks off the Pegolina carnival trilogy
Tradition dictates that in Pego the three weeks of Carnestoltes begin challenging the icy waters of the Bullent, in the Baixà del Riu. This unique festive show takes place a week before. On Saturday, February 11, the participants and spectators will meet in the bed of the river that crosses the Marjal de Pego-Oliva.
The participants of this atypical race have to cross the river disguised, if they wish, and get on a boat that they must make themselves with reusable materials that do not harm the environment. As in past editions, there will be a prize for the most original boat, the most sustainable and the one that removes the most waste from the water.
The final culmination of the Carnestoltes trilogy is the Pinyata or Burial of the Sardine. Festival that traditionally commemorates the arrival of Lent and that, due to its energy and euphoria, is one of the most beloved by the Pegolinos and Pegolinas.
The festival begins with a parade of coffins accompanied by mourning processions and music. They go through the streets of the municipality to Pla de la Font, where the coffins are burned. Subsequently, the municipality is filled with light and magic with the correfocs, which precedes another night of partying with music.
They ask me if Friday after the school costumes there is the fair of attractions and location.