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| Oliva | ||
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| Oliva Fiestas | ||
For their spectacle and elegance, the Moors and Christians fiestas of Oliva have carved a niche in the circuit of great processions of this deeply Valencian festival. This high level of processions and quality of the fiesta has been reached by strengthening other aspects of the event to make it more participatory and more solemn at the same time: the day of the disembarkation, the “Saturday at daybreak” (which people attend without having slept after the street parties) the fiesta proclamations, embassies and visits to the clubhouses... So it is that these fiestas recalling the Christian re-conquest of the territory occupied by Arabs for more than 500 years, are enjoying a period of splendour that improves in quality, participation and above all in spectacle year after year in Oliva.
If the carnival marks the start of Lent, in the middle of this period of reflection the Fallas fiesta maintains its attraction celebrating Lent in a pagan way: with a great bonfire burning the old to make way for the new. The parodies of the papier-mâché monuments paint a portrait of everyday life in a way that is both easy-going and spectacular. In Oliva there is evidence that these fiestas were already celebrated in the 60s but they have been consolidated as we now know them since 1982. Now the five Fallas commissions prepare a great fiesta that lasts a week and in which there is every type of ritual (the naming of the fiesta queens, erection of the monuments, early-morning awakenings, flower offerings, lunches in the clubhouses, prize-giving, firecracker displays, the burning…). It is a great spectacle to which everyone is invited.
Oliva’s Holy Week has a special attraction: the beauty of its processions. From Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday, Oliva’s old town with its unmistakable Moorish air fills with worshippers following the solemn passage of the brotherhoods under the tenuous light of candles and the moon. The climb to the Calvary at daybreak on Good Friday allows us to watch the sunrise from the vantage-point of Oliva Castle at the same time as a rosary of brotherhoods winds between each Station of the Cross. Oliva also has a biblical performance of great tourism interest that has been preserved over the centuries. On the evening of Good Friday in the parish church of Santa María they perform the “Desenclavament” or “Desenclavamiento”, a drama presented by the brotherhoods and in which they enact the torture, death and taking down of Jesus of Nazareth.
The fiestas of the Cristo de San Roque have been celebrated in Oliva since the 17th century. In these fiestas, celebrated on May 3, we can enjoy a great number of acts representative of our most ancient traditions. At the “pregón”, with all the revellers dressed in traditional style, the start of the fiesta is announced to the whole town. A Novena is celebrated in the chapel of the Cristo, considered a jewel of the baroque because of the symbolism and beauty of the paintings covering its central vault. In the streets there are fiestas for everyone: theatre and children’s events, thrilling games of the Valencian ballgame “pelota”, colourful fancy-dress parades and, of course, the lively parties that fill our streets with revelry and fun. The fiesta ends with a solemn procession in honour of the Santísimo Cristo.
In ancient times the fair in Oliva was an annual meeting of merchants to negotiate commercial sales and interchanges, although they also closed marriage pacts and family agreements. The fairs were born of the privileges granted by the kings in order to stimulate and consolidate the economic activity in their dominions, although they became an annual economic event for every type of cultural and social interchange. Nowadays their commercial function has disappeared but we preserve the fiesta and fun part from the old days such as the “Tío de la Porra”, the fun band that starts off Oliva fiestas. For a week there is the grand funfair to delight the children and youths, accompanied by a sports week, diverse cultural acts, a thrilling race by waiters and street parties until the early hours of the morning.
In the Valencian language, “porrats” are fairs selling a great variety of products (sweets, salted fish and meat, honey…) They are of medieval orgin and the first is the “porrat” of Sant Antoni celebrated in January, in which there is the ritual blessing of animals formerly work animals but now household pets. Stalls are set up in the streets of the old town and we can savour traditional dishes such as the “pa benet” (“blessed bread”) or the stew prepared with locally-grown vegetables. They also take advantage of this fiesta to celebrate a medieval market with live shows in the streets and different fun activities. In February they celebrate the “porrat” of San Blas, set up in the Plaza de Enguix with children’s games.
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