The Saint Michael festivities

These festivities last about a week coinciding with the 29th of September which is the Saint's Day of the patron saint of Ayllon. Now I live in Barcelona and I work at that time so I am unable to go but when the day arrives, I always remember my childhood and youth in the Ayllon festivities and I allow my imagination to transport me for a moment to my town and I must tell you what we used to do:

The young people of the town in groups of friends, had a month in which to prepare a 'peña' which consisted of getting a room ready for the festivities.

We would spend all our afternoons there painting and decorating but the most important thing was the opportunity to meet up and have fun doing something together. When it was time for the festivities, each 'peña' or group of friends had prepared their premises to the best of their abilities and a contest was organised to see which was the most attractive of all. The most important thing wasn't the prize itself, I don't remember our 'peña' ever winning it, but It gave us sufficient motivation to want to do our very best.

The festival began with a parade of floats with the queen and ladies-in-waiting, who were of course, the prettiest girls in the town. Afterwards, the Lord Mayor would make his proclamation announcing the start, one more year, of the festival of our patron saint 'San Miguel'.

Nobody missed it. From the youngest to the oldest, we all listened enthusiastically to those words which meant that everybody joined together one more year in the festivities of our town. When he had finished speaking, the music started in the square and everyone there started to dance to the sweet sound of that music, which I still remember to this day: those 'jotas' (Aragonese music) played by the new master in the art of minstrelsy , which I loved and still listen to at home from time to time. We used to go from peña to peña to see how they had been decorated and to drink the delicious lemonade which had been prepared by each peña and which had its own particular taste, depending on where it had been made.

Those days were full of joy and bustle, and I have fond memories of them. People used to drink too much but that was put right by sleeping a little and then, thenext morning, they would be ready to begin another day of festivities. The musicians of the town and the young men, playing music for street marching, used to go from house to house wherever there was a young woman, who would then come out to the balcony to watch them.

There was always bullfighting. I know some people don't like it because they think it involves cruelty to animals. Personally, I didn't like to see the bull get killed. I have memories rather of the festive atmosphere and the music which was played there.

Another interesting thing we used to do was enter contests and take part in activities. There was something for everyone in the town, from the youngest to the oldest, everyone could participate. One of the activities consisted of trying to fill a basket with more potatoes than your opponents by having to run from one side to the other with your legs tied.

There were contests like typical dance competitions: pasodobles, tangos and of course, jotas. There was even a tug of war competition with two teams pulling on a rope at opposite ends to see which team could pull the other. It was, all in all, a wonderful week for everyone.

Night time entertainment had to be present and groups used to get people dancing in the town square and the town dance hall.

Another festival well worth mentioning and which is of growing importance is the Medieval Ayllon festival. It is held during the last weekend of July. It was held for the first time in 1997 and every year as well as people from the town, an increasing number of visitors have come from nearby towns and from all over. At first, the festival only lasted a day but because of the huge participation, it now lasts two days, Saturday and Sunday.

All the townsfolk, and anyone else who would like to, dress up as they would have done in the 15th century. There are horsemen with their horses, ladies of noble birth,beggers, monks, Moors and Christians and no end of characters awaiting the arrival of King Don Juan II and the Supreme Commander of the Military Forces of Castilla, Don Álvaro de Luna. While waiting for such important charactures, you can enjoy the story teller telling the tale of Don Álvaro de Luna from when he arrived in our town to his banishment and tragic death.

You can find outmore about this on this web page, in the history of Ayllon. Youcan also enjoy walking around the market where craftsmen, moulding clay, carving wood or blowing glass, can be seen, and there are no end of stalls where you canfind anything from clothes from that period, armour and ornaments like the lace edging made by expert hands that you can see in the photos.

In the afternoon, you can enjoy concerts, listening to ancient and renaissance music, and at night all artificial lighting has disappeared and instead, torches from that period light the way.The town recaptures a special look , that of a real medieval town. Celtic or folk concerts give a finishing medieval touch to he town.