Foc You: Event publicity

Demons from Ibiza, Menorca, Binissalem, Sóller, Consell and Pollensa. Pyrotechnic displays. Fire runs. Folk and rock groups. All on one night. What an event. One to rival even the fire nights of Sant Antoni. Traditional culture at its best. Yes indeed, a spectacular occasion. What a pity no one knows about it.

You now do. It is tonight. In Pollensa. It is the first "Fira del Foc" or fire fair.

The first I was aware of this fair was a brief mention in the Friday What's On pages of "The Bulletin". I had to do a double take. Had I actually read this correctly? Yes I had, and it was taking place the next day. A phone call to Pollensa confirmed that posters had started to appear - on Thursday. The fair was appearing on some listings sites, mostly all late in the day, as in Friday. The earliest mention seemed to be on the website of one of the demons' groups themselves, that of Binissalem: one guaranteed to have less than worldwide impact on the worldwide web.

Where else might it have been mentioned? What about the regional government's tourism website? Perhaps under its "Hivern a Mallorca" programme, the rather misleading title for the Winter in Mallorca series of events that runs from October until April. There was no programme. There was a list of activities. Third page. Ah yes, there it was. With little or no information. There was a link to a blog for the federation of demons. The most recent entry was for an extraordinary general meeting in May. Demons have EGMs!?

What about Pollensa town hall's website? The fair is on its patch, even if it wasn't directly organising it. Nothing, save for a link to a PDF for an announcement in the press - on the Friday. Under its activities there was one for Saturday - the Miquel Costa i Llobera poetry prize. Even the normally assured culturapollensa site seemed less than sure. The event was listed, but it was faded, meaning there was no link to any actual information.

Of the mentions of the fair, there was, however, one that did perhaps shed a bit of light onto the darkness of this event of the night. It came from a blog called "d'en Potti". There appears to have been a bit of internecine strife in the demon world. A new "union" of devils and beasties has emerged in parallel to the federation. Maybe there was a good reason for that EGM after all. But if so, then why was the federation being linked by the government's tourism website? It was the new union that was behind the fire fair. Perhaps the government didn't know. In fact, why should anyone know? Fractiousness in the potty otherworld of demons might make for an amusing story, but whatever ideological or power struggle is being waged by the wearers of horns and the wavers of tridents shouldn't matter. Not to the earthly world at any rate, to the humans who might like to know about the fire fair.

Division or no division, it still doesn't excuse the tardiness with which the publicity appeared or the fragmented nature of its appearance. It does, though, say a lot. It is typical of the shocking disregard for the promotion of events. Staying on Pollensa town hall's website, there is a link for the town's fair in November. It leads you to official notices in Catalan for God knows what. It doesn't actually give anything useful. Like when it's on. Also in Pollensa, it may be several months away, but the dates for the wine fair in spring are a mystery. It is possible that they have yet to be decided, but even if they are, information is most unlikely to be released until close to the dates. And I have tried to find out, having emailed the co-organisers. No reply.

The wine fair is of a different nature to the fire fair. It is commercial as well as an attraction for tourists, a showcase for Mallorcan and Balearic wines. It may have escaped the attention of the organisers that tourists, who might well fancy ordering a case or several, could do with some decent advance notice to book flights and accommodation.

But no. One of the problems with fairs and fiestas is the publicity process. It goes something like this. Firstly a poster is presented. Dates are given but no more. Some days later, normally a week before the event starts, out comes the schedule. Either the poster or the schedule is afforded a ceremony: the mayoral and organising committee's photo opportunity. Advance information is jealously guarded in order not to undermine the egotism of the official "launch".

Through a combination of short-sightedness, self-importance, insularity (as with language) and inefficiency, Mallorca's events are undermined when it comes to their being broadcast effectively to a wider market. The events don't deserve to succeed. That some do is in spite of themselves and their promotion. There is more than just a slight sense of the foc you when it comes to publicity that isn't just local, assuming even this is done well. Ad hoc is the foc; they couldn't organise a burn-up in a fireworks factory.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.