Chaquetía festival
Halloween is a party that takes place,
especially in the united states and adjacent areas. However, despite a lot of
people decide to join to the Anglo-Saxon
party, in Spain there are typical celebrations on October 31th.
This festival is based on the
Celtic ritual, the transition to the
winter and the collection of chestnut.
The fire never is missing in this
celebrations and roasted chestnut of a campfire.
In some areas of Extremadura, place where we
live, this festival is called “Calbotá” and the roast chestnut is named
“Calbote”.
The party is to make a bonfire
and when there are some "brasas" you have to put on them a metal drum with holes called
"tixolo". Chestnuts are
extended on the pan and they have to have been previously cut on one
end to not explode. When they are
roasted you have to peel them and you can eat them.
It is normal to mess the face
with the remains of the bonfire, skip the bonfire because it brings good luck and perform
traditional games, singing popular songs and telling stories.
The calbotá is a tradition of
medieval and Christian origin, which in turn comes from celebrating
Samhain which was celebrated for the
Celts. The Samhain, the "end of summer" has also led to the Saxon
holiday of Halloween and was absorbed by the Romans, who passed it to
Christianity. From what Christianity celebrates the feast of All Saints,
coinciding with the start of the Celtic calendar. This celebration is held
under different names but with the same ritual elsewhere in Europe
"Calbotá" is named
"Chaquetía" in Mérida and it is still celebrated in families and
schools so we celebrate this party every year. We plan as usual celebrate
it again
on October 31th. We'll tell you.
These pictures are from the last celebration.
