Fira d’Indians: summer’s last big party weekend on the Costa Brava
THE BIG EVENT – BEGUR’S ‘FIRA D’INDIANS’ – 7-9 SEPTEMBER 2018
Begur’s exuberant Fira d’Indians is by far and away the biggest annual event at this beautiful hill-top village and attracts upwards of 40,000 visitors every year from miles around. Instigated in 2004, the idea behind the festival was to celebrate the long-standing connection between Begur and Cuba.
So who or what are the Indians? During the nineteenth century, many locals emigrated to Cuba to seek their fortunes – or simply find a job – and those who were successful returned to the town and built a series of magnificent mansions that still line the streets today. The houses were built in the Antillean style, almost always on two floors with porticoed balconies running along the façade, a wealth of neoclassical, neo-Gothic and Modernist features typical of colonial architecture and a large patio and garden at the back decorated with arches and beautiful murals. These returnees, who had left in a penurious state, returned with great fanfare, boasting of their numerous adventures in a blend of Catalan and South American Spanish and bringing with them mulatto servants, parakeets and palm trees; you can well imagine how they were regarded by the locals with a mixture of awe, envy and not a little resentment. Apart from the architecture, the Indians also gifted us with the palm trees that grace the seafront promenades along the coast, the palosanto fruit (persimmon), magnolia trees and, above all, the havanera songs, which are still celebrated every year along the coast and toasted with cremat (flamed rum).
The definition of Indians (in Catalan – Indianos in Spanish), according to the Collins Spanish dictionary, is ‘a Spaniard who has made good in the Americas’. We should not forget, however, that these Indians were the minority – many hundreds of emigrants stayed in Cuba, or returned just as poor as when they left, or died of malaria or other tropical diseases far from their homeland.
On the first weekend of September every year, Begur is transformed into a kind of mini-Havana, recreating a period in time that left an indelible mark on the town and its identity. The streets and squares are decked in banners, palm fronds and all kinds of inventive finery, providing the setting for a typically Cuban marketplace selling local produce, exhibitions of traditional crafts and trades, street shows, recreations of the colonial era, and of course music. Music is ubiquitous, the irresistible sounds of salsa, mambo, samba and cha-cha-cha filling the air in every street and square, with DJs, live bands, stage performances in the Escoles Velles courtyard and top Cuban bands playing until the early hours to vast crowds in the Parc de l’Arbreda.
TOP TIPS FOR VISITING THE FIRA D’INDIANS
1. Wear white. ALL white. Tuck a flower behind your ear. Brightly-coloured scarves wound around the waist or the head à la Carmen Miranda would not go amiss. Or a fedora – if you don’t have one to hand, you can pick up souvenir ones at the fair.
2. Pick up a programme at the Tourist Office to plan your visit over a leisurely mojito.
2. Come early to have any hope of finding a parking space. If you want to get a good look at all the stalls and craftspeople, the soft opening on Friday evening at 18:30 is a good time, before the crowds arrive. The busiest night is Saturday, when most of the local populace retire to their homes with a set of earplugs at the ready!
3. Don’t waste time trying to find the stall with the best value mojitos – all the vendors adhere to a set price every year. Your first mojito comes with a souvenir plastic mug (priced at €1) which you’re expected to hang on to for the rest of the day/evening and get topped up whenever the mood takes you.
4. The best place to get some Cuban eats and even the chance to sit down for a while is up in the Plaça dels Indians at the top of Avinguda Onze de Setembre. If you’re looking for peace and quiet, head along Carrer del Mar to the Son Molas tapas bar.
5. It’s well worth practising a few Latino dance steps before you come, but don’t worry if you haven’t, there are plenty of impromptu dance lessons going on and the most important thing is just to loosen those hips, get them swaying to the beat and
ENJOY!