Feria de Todos los Santos, Cocentaina

For those of you who have kept up with my blog, you know I spent my first few weeks here in Spain in Paloma’s pueblo of Cocentaina.  Since my visa was not valid until the 15th of August, I just barely missed the Moros y Cristianos festival. I’ll have to wait until next year to see it, but the 1st of November marks yet another important feria in Cocentaina, the Fiesta de Todos los Santos (All Saints’ festival).  If I’m not mistaken, it is the largest and oldest commercial fair in the area, having been celebrated since 1346!

If you’ve never been to Cocentaina, you have to realize that the town is pretty small.  During this festival, the town is filled with visitors, and all the streets are separated by different fairs.  These include the food fair, motorcycle fair, animal fair, medieval market, Moorish fair, machinery fair, and so on and it lasts all weekend, from October 31st until November 2nd.  The best part was the show we saw on Saturday night, called “Dimonis” in Plaza del Pla.  It was an amazing spectacle with belly dancers, demons, a fire show, rope dancers, and all sorts of light and special effects.  We ended up at a pretty crappy spot to watch the show, so my photos did not come out very well.  I did get some semi-cool shots though.

Yep, the she-demon is climbing down the side of the wall.

I was originally going to take the bus down, but two of Alicia’s friends, Miguel and Jose, were nice enough to give me a ride to Cocentaina.  They actually live in Valencia, near the Ruzafa neighberhood.  It was about an hour ride and we divided our time evenly between me practicing my Spanish and practicing with them in English.  We spent the night at Alicia’s parents house and on Sunday night we had an amazing dinner at her place.  I wish I had taken pictures of her crib because it was to die for.  Let’s just say you could have easily found it in an Ikea magazine.  Super modern, super clean, and a wrap around terraza with a gorgeous view of Cocentaina.  (Paloma, if you’re reading this, then you should know that we really missed you.)

Paloma, you should be in this picture!

Litte Snickers had to stay in Valencia, so I couldn’t her by to say hello to Pilar and Vicente (Paloma’s parents).  Hopefully I’ll be able to visit them one weekend because I only had enough time to say hello.

Here are pictures from my trip, which you can also find in the gallery.