This document summarizes several festivals and traditions celebrated in Catalonia, France: - Bastille Day on July 14th celebrates the French Revolution and is marked by military parades and fireworks in cities like Paris. - Sant Jordi on April 23rd originated from the legend of St. George slaying a dragon and is now celebrated by giving roses and books to loved ones in Catalan towns like Perpignan. - The Feux de la Saint-Jean on June 22nd involves carrying a flaming torch from Perpignan up Mont Canigou and using it to light bonfires across Catalan villages to celebrate the summer solstice.

2. th
14 July, National Day
La Fête de la Bastille or Fête Nationale
celebrates the storming of the Bastille
prison in 1789 and the beginning of the
French Revolution of 1789. The
Bastille was seen as a symbol of the
absolute power of Louis the
16th’s Regime and its storming and
defeat represented a symbol of liberty.
Bastille Day was declared a French
national holiday in 1880, a celebration
of the birth of the Republic.
Fireworks, dancing, and a lot of
celebrating mark the event every year
throughout France.
In all villages and towns, there is a
military parade, and in Paris it takes
place on the Champs-Elysées, in front
of the President.

3. July 14th on the Champs-Elysées, in Paris

4. Sant Jordi, April 23rd, Catalan festival, The book and the rose
Celebrated on or around 23rd April, Sant Jordi is the Patron
saint of Catalonia and the French equivalent of St George.
According to legend, he met a dragon terrorising the inhabitants of a
town, He wanted to eat a girl everyday. When it was the king's
daughter's turn,St Jordi rescued her.
Then, the king and the whole population converted to
Christianity in gratitude and roses grew from the ground where there
was the dragon's blood.
Sant Jordi in the streets of Perpignan

5. At the end of the 19th century, Sant Jordi
became a Catalan symbol as his struggle
against the dragon was similar to the
Catalan struggle for freedom. It became
traditional to give a rose and a book to a
loved one and annual literary
competitions were held to stimulate
young people to cultivate, respect and
Sant Jordi in Argelès take pleasure in the Catalan literature
and language, a tradition which inspired
UNESCO to declare this date the
International Day of the Book. Offer your
lady a rose, buy your man a book in the
streets of Perpignan on Saturday 21st
April as bookstalls set up on the quai
Vauban, place Gambetta, and place
Arago, and towns and villages
throughout the region.
April 23rd was not only famous because
of the legend of St. George, but also
because it is the anniversary of the death
of two great writers: CERVANTES and
SHAKESPEARE !

6. Les Feux de la Saint-Jean & La Trobada du Canigou, June 23rd
A lovely tradition to celebrate the Summer Solstice of St Jean around the 22nd June is the meeting
of Catalans from both sides of the Pyrénées on the summit of the Canigou.
Troops of walkers and representatives of villages and towns throughout Catalonia, meet up on the
Plateau des Cortalets, where they set up tents and prepare for a sleepless night! The ultimate goal
of the Trobada is to get up to the peak at 2,784m high, with bunches of wood to contribute to the
huge bonfire prepared on the summit. This gathering is known as the "Trobada" (a catalan word
meaning "meeting" or "reunion").
At midnight a flaming torch, kept throughout the year at the Castillet in Perpignan, is carried to the
top of the mountain and used to light a bonfire which can be seen all over the Conflent. The next
day, relay runners carry the "flamme du Canigou" down onto the plain to all the villages they pass
through on the way to Perpignan and in the evening, these flames light the "Focs de la Sant Joan"
or "Feux de la Saint Jean", fires that have been prepared in towns and villages all over the region.
With the arrival of the torch, and the lighting of the fires, the festivities begin.
In Perpignan for example, this consists of music and dancing, fireworks and laser display, a giant
screen in front of the Castillet showing the procession of the flame and its presentation by runners,
the traditional ceremony of the sharing of the bread (le partage du pain) with shepherds from the
Canigou, son et lumière.......... but there is some kind of celebration in most towns and villages
around the region.
It is a night for celebration and an important symbol of the unity of the Catalan culture

7. The bunch of wild flowers
The arrival of the flame in Perpignan

8. Saint Côme and Saint Damien, September 26th ,
Festival of Argelès-sur-Mer
Every year, towards the end of
September, Argelès-sur-Mer pays
homage to its patron saints, Saint
Côme and Saint Damien, twins and
early Christian martyrs, who healed
the sick for free.
According to legend, Argelès was
struck by plague in the 17th century,
an epidemic which disappeared on
27th September 1652 - the feast of
the patron saints - and on which day
the population made a vow to carry In the church of Argelès
out a solemn procession to honour
them every year...
A long weekend of different events
and entertainment, sardanes,
castellers, and bals, crashing to a
grand finale on Sunday 2nd October
with the parade through the streets of
the Giants and Big-Heads (gegants i
capgrossos.) from North and South
Catalonia when more than 500 giants
dance in the streets!

9. Gegants are enormous figures,
sometimes 14 or 15 ft tall, with
painted papier-maché heads and
arms. Dressed in traditional
clothing, they are built on a frame
with a person inside, controlling
the movements as the giant
dances and sways.
Most towns have their own
giants. They usually appear in
couples, often as king and queen,
or some other important person
from the town’s history, and go
out during the patron saint
holiday of the town (Festa Major)
or on special days, and dance in
the streets with "big-heads" or
"cap-grossos", smaller figures,
with oversized heads, who
parody local characters and will
often carry a whip or pig bladder,
to frighten the children!