Fireworks Alicante Style

Fogue Res 2012

In lieu of Forth of July, we here in Spain get to be witnesses and spectators of the bonfires of Saint John. As it turns out, all of Europe celebrates the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the first day of summer. People all over have bonfires on the beach. It is a revival of a long tradition dating back to the pagan roots which are much deeper here than back home. Either way, Alicante uses this tradition in a ridiculous and rare fashion. The day of bonfires has metamorphosed into a two week long festival with two types of firework displays, bull fights, food, parades, floats, and dance parties.

There are two types of fireworks, the masculine and the feminine. The masculine is during the day at 2pm of the first week. It is a show of noise. Everyone gathers as close as they can to the display and gets overwhelmed by the explosions as a sound concert. It goes into your bones, and deep into your chest. Those who designed the display make a rhythm of canon fire. They play with the height of the fireworks to affect the sound and the layering of explosions. Everyone is excited and facing the square, however there is nothing to see only hear and feel.

On the second week are the feminine fireworks. They begin at midnight (the time when people start going out at night here) on the beach. Everyone sits with their family and friends and make mounds of sand within which to sit and gaze at the fireworks. And they are works of art. There is a soft display followed by a pause and a bit more intense display and pause with canon echoing off large apartment buildings back to you again and then another soft display. The buildup is not continuous; it goes back and forth and back and forth playing with you. The funny thing is, you can’t hear it. They are huge displays of light, with little to no sound. The canons are a crack with a bright white light that fills the sky for a split second, yet the sound does not match.

It is almost as if the Spanish here took our understanding of fireworks and separated them into two different parts. It doesn’t make any sense, but then again it is more intentional and thought-out than any fireworks display I have ever seen in my life: a wonderful show of color and light, noise and intensity.

In between the two weeks of firework is the burning of effigies. There are 86 or so communities or neighborhoods or streets which organize themselves and compete for the best float. On one night, they all get burned. It starts at midnight with the one in front of the town hall. After which it is a mad race to find out when and where there will be another event. Random and nonsensical, the people of Alicante sing and dance while those attending the fire hose down buildings and onlookers to keep them from getting too hot. In front of the city hall, the flames go higher than the 5 storey buildings only 30 feet away. People down wind, be advised! Huge speakers are placed right at ground zero and are covered with tarps. The people in the front taunt the firemen to hose them down while the anticipation builds. After the effigy is lit and burning the music breaks out and dancing and singing fill the narrow streets.

Epic.

 

Effigy of Dali

 City Hall, pre-bonfire

-Alaska