22nd Springtime Diada Castellera by the Ganapies!
05/05/2017
Thursday 11 May is the day of the 22nd Springtime Diada Castellera. The festivities will start off at 11:30 a.m. with a popular breakfast and a Botifarra tournament (a famous Catalan card game). At 2:30 p.m., the UAB castellers group Ganapies will play the gralla—the traditional Catalan musical instrument—to announce the beginning of the event, followed by the Catalan human towers, castells, at 3:30 p.m. This year, the castellers groups invited to the party are the Arreplegats (from the UB in Zona Universitària), the Xoriguers (from the UdG), the Pataquers (from the URV) and the Llunatics (from the UPC in Vilanova).
This year, the Ganapies have high hopes for the Springtime Diada Castellera, as it poses new challenges for the group: to build an eight-level human tower. They have been rehearsing it all season, and they have never built this tower in front of an audience. They will also be building a seven-level column and a seven-level tower. After the display of human towers, there will be live music and culture with children’s entertainer Jaume Barri, who has been performing for the Ganapies for the last 50 years. At 9 p.m. all participant castellers groups will be having a gala supper.
The Springtime Diada Castellera and the Winter Diada Castellera seek to bring the Catalan university castellers groups together and to promote team spirit. All UAB members are invited to join the festivities!
The Ganapies group was created in 1994, and was the first ever university castellers group. It is also the largest student association at the UAB. Their diades castelleres and butifarra tournaments are very well-known among UAB students and other universities. If you would like to learn a bit more about the castellers world and the Ganapies, don’t miss this party and make sure you attend their open-air rehearsals every Tuesday and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. next to the Faculty of Science.
Check the Diada time table in the Facebook event and watch the Springtime Diada Castellera live stream!