anyone know how to attend a practice session of any of the castellars in Barcelona as I see no competitions scheduled during our Barcelona stay? Thanks in advance! So excited!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17435 posts
When are you going? And where else besides Barcelona? Did you see this October schedule of events all over?
Posted by
OP
St. Louis, MO
3 posts
I will only be in Barcelona and have looked for Castell performances on line for the time I will be there and did not see any for Oct 23rd through 26th. I thought I had read someone had gone to their practices. Thanks for asking.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17435 posts
OK, I see there is a gap in performances October 21-25. But maybe it is worth a day trip to Girona or Sitges to see one on the 26th?
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
3071 posts
Hi
It's no "gap" it's just that the season schedule doesn't follow a pattern and sometimes there are many in so many days and sometimes they're more spaced. JFI, castellers (castell=castle, in Catalan, the local language, and that's the name the human towers receive) is a 100% amateur sport -actually whether should be called sport or not is a heated debate as this is more a heritage tradition- so the members of the colles (teams) do have other professions :)
Anyway, as Lola mentioned, you have several options on the 26th to see a competition, the closest to Barcelona and most appealing being Sitges -40' by train (Rodalies)-, as the town is worthwhile visiting. Alternatively, Sant Cugat del Vallès is another option -40' by train FGC and Igualada, located in more "rural" Catalonia, yet another -90' by train (FGC).
Also know that 6 or 7pm -one of the hours the competitions are normally held on Saturdays- is not "late" by any local standards and you have plenty of trains until 10, 11 or midnight to return to Barcelona -depending on the line.. and that public transport in Catalonia is totally safe even at those hours.
OR...
if you're content with seeing a practice session, this is the practices shedule of the colla (team) Castellera Jove de Barcelona and I see they do practices here in the city on the 22nd, 23th and 25th.
However, I must warn that if you're not really passionate about castells and understand a bit already, it might be like attending an American football practice session: you'll be a bit in the fog trying to understand many moves. And it certainly lacks the "visual plasticity" of the competition, when the different teams are in their colours, there's the accompanying music, the cheers, etc.