THE BURIAL OF THE SARDINE

WHERE, WHEN AND THE ORIGIN

The Burial of the Sardine is an event that takes place in Murcia city the first Saturday after Easter. It's so popular that you can see it on TV. It has been declared as an international tourist interest celebration.

We don't know when this tradition started, but we are sure it began many years ago, maybe one century or more.

We think the reason for this celebration could be found in old times, during Lent and Easter, where people couln't eat meat for many days, so they had to eat different kinds of fish and seafood. The Burial of the Sardine is a symbol to celebrate the end of eating so much fish.

The Burial of the Sardine (Where/When)

The Burial of the Sardine is the greatest day in the Easter holidays of Murcia city. It is celebrated the week after The Holy Week. You can watch on TV the parade because it was declared of national touristic interest.

ORIGIN.
The Burial of the Sardine is a celebration with an unknown origin. One possible origin for this party is this one:
A hundred years ago, catholic people couldn't eat meat in Easter (especially on Fridays), so they had to eat fish. When Easter finished, they decided to give a big party where they burned a sardine as a sign, meaning they didn't have to eat more fish, because they were free to eat meat again.
(People and events)

PEOPLE AND EVENTS
During the burial of the sardine there are several events like parades, fireworks and the burning of the sardine (a big fish).
There is a big parade with music bands, dancers, dragons, giants, monsters …But the “main course” is a parade of brightly decorated vehicles with a mythological inspiration. About 15-20 people travel on them throwing thousands of toys, balls and some things to the people going crazy in the street.
Every year a lot of tourists visit our country at that time and that evening, everybody enjoys watching big brightly decorated vehicles and you can see children smiling while hundreds of toys fall into their hands.
At the end of the parade, there are fireworks and the big fish is burnt.

EVENTS: PARADES, FIREWORKS, MODEL FISH (BURNT).

The week after Easter we celebrate a huge parade which starts on Saturday at nine o’clock in the evening. Groups of people dance and the public waits some toys which are given by the “sardineros”. At the end of the parade the sardine is burnt and fireworks are shot.

CONCLUSION.
In conclusion, there are two sides in this festival. The first one would be the parade, which is beautiful and funny. In this parade we can see a fantastic and colourful permormance by the several groups.The second would be that this is a crowded and violet festival, because people drink too much and they fight to catch the toys that "sandineros" throw to the people. Despite all this, it is a traditional festival which we have to keep and improve.