It is about 4 am before things begin to quieten down and I get some sleep, but I am soon woken by the sun. This is the annual Catalan rendez-vous – trobada in medieval French, and we have all become troubadores. A surprising number are just passing through on a walk.Īs the evening dissolves into night, the musical tributaries merge and the singing coalesces around well-known songs: Les montagnards sont là, La Santa Espina, Se canto (strictly speaking an Occitan song) and Muntanyes regalades, of course. Most are from nearby villages, most speak French more readily than Catalan. I wander around asking people where they come from. It is simply fun, escapism, an outing with friends. Although last year giant screens were erected to relay the thoughts of local politicians, there are none this time. And the drug of preference is alcohol, though I think I detect the perfume of cannabis amongst the smoke of the pinewood campfires. There are young people, but there are older ones as well. There is French electro garage rock, but there are also traditional airs. And the secret ingredient which turns it into something else: a shared heritage, be it real or imaginary. Here, at 2150m above sea level, is a recipe for a rave party: ghetto blasters, musicians with primitive sound systems, young people, drugs. There are over 200 tents grouped in gaudy bouquets between the wild rhododendrons and broom in a clearing surrounded by pines and conifers. The chalet is normally bustling with activity but today is exceptional. I drive to Vernet on the west side of the mountain and take a little-used path to the Chalet des Cortalets 1400m higher up. I will strap a bundle of them onto my rucksack. They were two years older than I am, worn out and unproductive so I had them grubbed up. I think immediately of my vineyard, now dead, strewn with forlorn vine roots. And it must be labelled with where you come from.” He doesn’t question my accent and my evident lack of Catalan credentials. “ It must be something which belongs to you, that’s important. “Bring something combustible for the fire,” he says. I ring up the president of the organising committee. For some, it is also the emblem of a nation-in-waiting, to be reconstituted from the eponymous Spanish province centred around Barcelona, and the French département of the Pyrénées-Orientales.Ī Catalan friend had invited me to the trobada which takes place on Canigou in June but was hospitalised a few days before, so I decide to go alone. The fagot that will be sent to the Pic will be that of the municipality it bears his name it is exposed to view, either at the Town Hall or in a passing place (shop or other.For Catalans, the Canigou mountain is a symbol of their one-time nation which straddled the Mediterranean end of the Pyrenees. Moreover, for the Trobada, everyone in their village got their hands dirty. there are only guardians of traditions living together in the same country and rejoicing in this reunion. That night, there are no longer any young people, old people, entertainers or spectators. On Canigo, at the summit that evening, the vine trimmings are burned and a barbecue cooked over the embers.Įveryone meets there because it is the celebration of friendship. This flame is brought down from the summit so that on the evening of 23 June fires can be lit in each village and the festival of Saint John the Baptist celebrated. On the evening of 22 June, the flame which has been burning in the Castillet in Perpignan since 1960 is carried from the ground floor of this historic monument to the summit of Canigo where it is regenerated. Participating in traditional dancing and eating Catalan food. In general about 800 people will sleep in the area around the Cortalets for the festivities, The aim is to take a bundle of vine trimmings to the summit and leave it next to the iron cross which marks the top of the mountain (a further 600m of climbing). Participants climb up to the Cortalets hostel (2150m above sea level, just before the summit of Canigo) and either stay in the hostel or camp nearby. The term “Trobada” is sometimes taken to include the festival of Regeneration of the flame and the festival of Saint John the Baptist, which are linked. It is celebrated on both the French and Spanish sides of the border. The Trobada is a Catalan festival which takes place in the Canigo massif (Pyrénées-Orientales). In view of the environmental issues, it is recommended not to participate spontaneously in the 2023 edition and to postpone your participation until next year." "In view of the drought situation and the risk of fires in the Pyrénées-Orientales and particularly on the Canigó massif, the Syndicat Mixte Canigó Grand Site will not be organizing the Trobada this year.
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