- The Councillor of Festivities and the festival organisers have put together an intense programme of events, including the amusing costumes of San Pancracio and the tradition of the ‘pans benets’.
The traditional festivities of La Rosa 2024 of El Poble Nou de Benitatxell kick off this Thursday May 2nd. The Councillor of Festivities and the festeros have put together an intense programme of events, which will last until May 12th.
They will start on May 2nd and 3rd with masses and triduums to the Virgin of the Rose. But the big party will begin on Saturday 4th. In the morning there will be ‘Olimpiadas limpias’ (clean Olympics) in the sports field of Santa María Magdalena school and a musical workshop for babies at the library ( inscription at biblioteca@elpoblenoudebenitatxell.com), and in the afternoon Ofrenda (Offering).
At 6:30 p.m., the festive women will be collected and will then go to the Oratory to begin the colourful floral offering to the Virgin of the Rose. Children and adults will make their way to the Church to offer her with their bouquets and floral arrangements accompanied by the Band and the Colla La Llebetjà. During the offering, the Grup de Danses Morro Falquí will also perform their traditional dances. In the evening, the Titanic orchestra will perform at La Pau street.
With the goal of achieving an orderly and organised offering, the Councillor of Festivities has asked for the collaboration of neighbours and associations, establishing the following starting order: Grup de Danses Morro Falquí, Colla La Llebetjà, communion children, children organised in pairs or trios, children in trolleys, neighbours who want to make an offering, associations and peñas, festeros and festeras and, to close with their music, the Agrupació Musicomunicipal Santa María Magdalena.
The day of La Rosa and its tradition of ‘pans benets’, one of the most unique in the municipality, is eagerly awaited. Preparations are being finalised with the transfer to the Oratory of the 120 loaves of bread which will be decorated with roses and carried in baskets to the church on Sunday May 5th, where they will be blessed. Afterwards, accompanied by the Music Band and the Colla La Llebetjà, a procession made up of festival-goers and local boys and girls will go through the streets with the baskets of blessed loaves of bread to distribute the pieces of bread to the houses in the village, who will be waiting at the doorways with an empty plate.
That same day in the evening, at 8 p.m., there will be a solemn procession in honour to the Virgin of the Rose, San Pancracio Mártir and San Luis. At the end of the procession there will be a fireworks display at the Portalet, and in the evening there will be music in the ‘casal festero’.
On Monday 6th there will be religious events and children’s activities in the morning. After the mass in honour to Saint Pancrazio Martyr, the mayor or mayoress of San Pancrazio will be appointed on the balcony of the Town Hall, from where he or she will dictate the rules of the costume that all the neighbours will have to comply with next Saturday 11th on the festive day of costumes. At 2pm there will be a giant paella for all those attending, at 4pm Toni Catalá will perform on La Pau street and at 4.30pm there will be an afternoon of board games at the Social Centre.
From May 7th to 12th there will be a release of bulls every evening (except Saturday) at Les Pesqueres square, and dinner at popular prices by the Peña Taurina on Friday 10th. The festivities will continue on Saturday May 11th with one of the most fun days of the whole year: San Pancracio and his popular costumes. The day will start with an awakening, an informal parade and cucañas for the youngest ones. At lunchtime there will be a paella contest, with prizes of 100, 75 and 50 euros for the three best paellas. The fancy dress parade will start at 5.30 p.m. from the casal festero. From 6:30 pm onwards there will be a disco with La Fiesta 600 on La Pau street, and at 7:30 pm, the festeros and festeras will hand out sandwiches to all those who comply with the rules dictated by the mayor of San Pancracio.