The Festival of Crosses and May returns to Carrizosa, after two years in which they could not be celebrated as is tradition, although the flame was maintained with more than a hundred simple crosses that could be seen on the facades, windows and balconies. The population of Carrizo already dresses their crosses for the festival that begins this weekend.
The Festival attracts more and more people, "and it is a pleasure to see that young people are singing mayos again, joining the group that will Industry Email List sing the mayos during" comments the Councilor for Culture Angela del Campo.During the night of Saturday, a rondalla of young people (boys and girls) and older people will march through the town singing the Mayes to the Ladies. On day 2, people will sing to the Crosses (altars placed in houses) and treats will be held, with “puñao” and punch.
Mayor Pedro Antonio Palomo trusts that “the weather will give us a little respite and we can enjoy our Crosses and Mays, with even greater force than during the two years of the pandemic, when dozens of Crosses in houses, windows and balconies revitalized this festival May, attracting people to see and photograph them.” Additionally, May 3 is a local holiday, in honor of the May Crosses, which reflects the desire to maintain the tradition of the Cross in the town.
About 40 crosses will be dressed in Carrizosa, giving great color to the town of Campomontiel and Alto Guadiana Mancha. Crosses that will be photographed and will be part of the official program of the Virgen del Salido Festivities next summer. There are 14 fixed crossings on the streets. 15 dressed in the windows and balconies like these years ago. 4 in private homes and 2 from associations in City Hall premises.
Las Cruces y Mayos de Carrizosa has pagan origins, as a festival to exalt spring and has variants throughout Spain. In our region they have been celebrated in many locations, but where they remain with all their traditional flavor is in Carrizosa.When they became Christian, these festivals became an exaltation of the Cross as a symbol of the Passion of Jesus. They basically consist, in their most traditional aspect, of the ornamentation of a cross based on floral and plant elements (reminiscent of its ancestral meaning), along with symbols of passion (nails, the crown of thorns, etc.).
The group of boys, girls and elders of this May celebration dedicate their songs to their beloved women (wives, girlfriends, family members) in what is called "ladies' night." It begins with a traditional song called "el mayo", in which, through its different stanzas (the first of which is to request permission from the lady), the woman's perfections are "drawn".
The theater director Lluís Pasqual (Reus, 1951) has been awarded the XXII Corral de Comedias Prize, awarded by the Almagro International Classical Theater Festival, “for his career as a stage director, his importance as a transformer of stage languages and the bridge that it has constituted between theatrical tradition, heritage and the contemporary and avant-garde perspective,” according to festival director Ignacio García.
The decision to award the prize to Pasqual was made unanimously by the festival board. “It is a gesture of justice - explains Ignacio García - to recognize and thank him for his efforts to consolidate contemporary theater in Spain, to put Spain in Europe and in the world. To talk about Lluís Pasqual is to talk about our history of theater, four decades of theatrical democracy that also coincide, more or less, with the 45 years of the Almagro Festival.The festival director highlights Pasqual's theatrical vision “without complexes; without renouncing tradition, heritage, but daring to look at it and challenge it from a different point of view.