Fire of st antonio

[pollensafan]

HI All, Just been out to see this 3 day local festivale and all i can say is if any of you folk have only been out in season (like me) you need to make the effort to go and see this. If half of what went on was tried in britain we would all be carted of to the local police station. It sounds hard to take on board but they build fires in the roads and i dont mean out of twigs, but fully matured pine trees. The fires are as wide as the roads. Some of them just a couple of feet from the buildings and they were still going 24 hours later.As for the guys trying to climb the pine tree that has taken them about 3 hours to drag fom the pine walk to the square, well that has to be seen to be believed. The reason it takes so long to get it to the square is because the guys dragging it are as drunk as skunks. in fact i thought i had seen some sights in my time but these guys beat all. Every time they pull the tree about a yard they stop and drink the local tipple of choice and i don't mean a sip either. It went down like tap water and quite a few of them followed it. If you make the effort to get there to see this i promise you wont regret it.

 

[eleanor]

Yes I remember a couple of years ago when we were out thinking that good old health and safety would have a great time!

It really is great fun - what we witnessed was not a bunch of drunks as often seen here in the UK but people having a really enjoyable time. The atmosphere was really good.
I must say though - I did have a slight problem with watching the climbing of the tree. It was so high and I believe they oil them too?
It made my tummy turn to watch!
Agree - anyone thinking of going next year will I'm sure find the experience very enjoyable and exciting.

 

[Belladonna]

Last year it was so warm that the watchers along the route were throwing water down onto the drinkers to keep them cool! Fine, as long as it wasnt still in the bottles! The musical followers are great too, and the children loved joining in to pull the rope for a while. I think the practice of oiling the trunk as stopped now as its hard enough on the smooth surface and it would go on for hours and hours and hour......!

 

[Sparky]

They used washing up liquid instead of oil this year , like you said Pollensafan none of it would ever be allowed in the UK. Have you tried that "local brew", it's called Mesclat, a mix of Palo and Anis, tastes like cough medicine yuk!!. I call it Covonia.

 

[pollensafan]

Hi Sparky, Yes i have tried the local brew and all i can say is its not for the faint of heart. It should come with a government health warning.

 

[Sparky]

LOL!! so glad you enjoyed the fiesta, it's amazing isn't it ?.

 

[car77]

Andrew from the Alcudia Guide has posted that Miquel Ramon - the Pollensa Councillor in charge of Fiestas had to have parts of two of his fingers amputated as the result of an accident while moving the pine tree in Pollensa Town. Just shows it is dangerous and accidents do happen. I guess the only difference there to here in the UK is that he would be suing for compensation if he lived here and then the fiesta would be banned on 'Elf & Safety' grounds!

Car77

 

[ray]

Andrew from the Alcudia Guide has posted that Miquel Ramon - the Pollensa Councillor in charge of Fiestas had to have parts of two of his fingers amputated as the result of an accident while moving the pine tree in Pollensa Town. Just shows it is dangerous and accidents do happen. I guess the only difference there to here in the UK is that he would be suing for compensation if he lived here and then the fiesta would be banned on 'Elf & Safety' grounds!

Car77

Yes,unfortunate accident,but at probably the least potentially dangerous part of the day. No doubt the British media and health and safety loons would have had a field day!

 

[sonya]

San Antoni...

Got to say our 5th year and the most disappointing, hardly any fires or any real effort all seems to be a money making racket for the bar owners as for the tree climbing it went on and on and on! most people walked away. a shame really looks like we'll be giving it a miss for a while , unless its just the port that losing its and all the action is now in Pollensa town, anyone visit the town out of interest. Could this be a sign of whats to come this summer?!

 

[ray]

Pollenca was superb as usual, dont know what happened in the port but cant fault the old town for effort, bonfires music pyrotecnics and everything

 

[Quelys]

I agree, we spent St Antoni in Pollensa this year and will be returning in future years. The Port fires were nothing in comparison. There was also free food and drink given by the resident's organisation in Pollensa, not sure about the Port..

 

[CathB]

We arrived a little late on Saturday and therefore did not get to the square..in fact we didnt get further than Can Picoteo....we stopped to say hello to Miguel and saw lots of friends and never got any further..Sunday was great...I went with a friend to Formentor to see the Pine tree being brought to the boat and then watched it being brought throught the streets later.Thoroughly enjoyed it all...hope I can do it again next year

 

[Smiddy]

Yes, the H&S boys would have a field over here, although to be fair the police and a full ambulance crew followed the procession. It was our first and thoroughly enjoyed the experiance, we started at about 6pm Sat with a invite to a childrens party, then on to the Refuge bar (just behind the church) a well built fire was lit about 8pm and plenty of fresh fish, meats were available(free) for us to cook against the fire plus copious amounts of vino, had a walk round the port and enjoyed all the other fires, some small, some bigger, left Refuge there mid-night and headed for Rustic Bar, once again plenty of food available, cooked our baked potatoes on the fire, then headed for the front were a live band was playing, then headed for El Moll were there was a DJ playing. Having got up at 0300 to catch a early morning flight, things were now catching up and we had to admit defeat and headed for bed, all the fireworks in the world couldn't keep me awake by this time. ( I believe the El Moll DJ finished at 0700 Sun, they then head for breakfast and catch the buses 0800 to go round to Formentor for more eats and see the tree leave for the port).

We surfaced at around 11.00 and headed for the roundabout were the tree had arrived, and was just starting it's (long) journey thru the streets to the square, great to witness it, all the local colour, noise, insanity, and those firecrackers! Earsplitting! The tree was eventualy erected and the "nutters" attemted to climb it, after a while this got a bit tiring and the people began to drift off, we ourselves drifted back to the Refuge bar were hot soup/ vino was on offer (free) and after a few hours went home.

As i said before i left "i would take it as it comes" this i did and had a great time, IMO it is not a tourist attraction, more a invite to a friends party.

And that was only the weekend, we still had the rest of the week to enjoy PP, the restaurants, weather etc, and this we duly well did.

 

[mariaclarkeni@email.com]

What are the dates for this Fiesta?

 

[Sparky]

Hi, it's always held on the 16th and 17th of January.

 

[CathB]

persuaded OH...flights booked for January

 

[Sparky]

Excellent news Cath, hope you make it to the square this time .

 

[CathB]

definately will...flights are weekend only again but it means we arrive Saturday evening so will have plenty of time to check things out on Sunday

 

[Sparky]

Yes, next year it will on Sunday and Monday.