Turn The Music Up (Party Down)

The summer fiesta season is upon us. Locally, Muro is the first to get in on the giants-parading, DJs-a-playing, fire-running act. Sant Joan. Saint John. They really know how to push the thing. There is a rather beat-up car crawling around with an on-roof sandwich board announcing the bullfight during the fiesta. El Cordobés - the younger. Sant Pere (Saint Peter) will be the next, with the 29th the big day of image-carrying, boats-a-floating and fireworks-a-blazing in the port of Alcúdia. And always the DJs and the tribute acts. There is another AC/DC taking the stage in Muro. Not The Bon Scott Band that played in the Alcúdia bullring some while ago, but Tribut AC/DC.

Much though there is a sense of déjà vu about the fiestas, their role in continuity and community cannot be underestimated. And from now until September, the local area plays host to fiestas and special events. After Puerto Alcúdia, there are the fiestas of Puerto Pollensa, Alcúdia, Pollensa (Patrona), Sa Pobla Jazz, Can Picafort and Santa Margalida (the Beata). There are that many that they merge into one, and you can add in other events, such as La Victoria, the Cala San Vicente fiesta and Love festival. From mid-June to mid-September, it is one long party, and even after then there is the wine festival in Binissalem, just in case you haven't had enough to drink over the previous three months.

I once suggested that Mallorca should be promoted as a 365-day-a-year, 24-hour party place. This could just about the case, given the number of winter fiestas, autumn fairs, spring this and that which occur. But "promoted"? Is any of this really promoted?

Just take a look again at that list of places above. They are all nearby, they are all different, they all have their own characteristics. Though there is a lot of similarity in the content of the fiestas, there is a huge amount for the tourist to enjoy: the fireworks, the fire runs, the demons, the giants, the music, the traditions. But fiesta Mallorca is not given its own special promotional place in the sun. When the tourism authorities talk of alternative tourism, and of culture and history, it never seems to occur to them that this culture and history is going on all summer, alongside contemporary activities. It's actually a heck of a good package. To be fair, when Mallorca took itself to Manchester recently there were fire runs, but the spectacular of fiesta is largely overlooked. The fiestas are adjuncts to tour operators' websites; promotion by the town halls is often lacking, especially in different languages.

I say again, look at that list of places above. Imagine that the local authorities actually combined to announce a summer of fiesta and party, of music and entertainment, of fireworks and even rubber ducks (in the case of Can Picafort). Northern Mallorca, where the party never stops. But would they combine? Of course not. God forbid that they might also do something like run special buses for tourists. How actually are people in Playa de Muro meant to get to the Sant Joan extravaganzas, let alone to the bullfight? Always assuming that they know that Sant Joan is going on. They're missing a trick - all the local authorities. And the trick is staring them in the face, and pumping out a bass line at three in the morning and exploding in a cascade of whites, greens, blues and reds.

And in case Muro town hall has not done so in English, for anyone interested in what is happening during Sant Joan, there is an abbreviated list of events on the WHAT'S ON BLOG - http://www.wotzupnorth.blogspot.com


Peach Pit
Apparently, the Peach Pit in Puerto Alcúdia has stopped doing food; or so I am told. Don't know why, though I suppose one can guess. Is this an indication of how things are?


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Camera Obscura, "You Told A Lie": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR62KrUa5Ng. Today's title - a soul act from the late '70s.

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