The Feria Chica shines again in all its splendor in Lorca, with its usual format after two years in which health circumstances forced it to be suspended in 2020 and held with limited capacity in 2021. For this occasion, the City of the Sun has prepared a program of events like those of yesteryear for residents and visitors to enjoy the patron saint festivities in honor of the Virgen de las Huertas, one of the most anticipated dates by the local population.
This was highlighted by the mayor, Diego José Mateos, in the presentation of the liturgical calendar: «After hard moments of the pandemic, this 2022 will be the year in which the acts and cults of Santa María la Real de las Huertas are fully recovered» .
Religious acts, live music, folklore, sports, gastronomy and children’s activities make up a festive agenda that covers all ages and tastes, and which will run until next Sunday, September 11.
The proclamation by Ana María Blaya Priante and the traditional concert of the Municipal Music Band in the Plaza del Rey Sabio opened the Feria Chica calendar yesterday.
The level will continue today at the highest with the floral offering to Santa María la Real de las Huertas, starting at 8:00 p.m. Then the inaugural gala of the XXXII Virgen de las Huertas International Folklore Festival will take over, at 9:30 p.m.; the contest of migas and the ‘cocaña’, from 11:00 p.m., and the start of the ‘Noche Joven’ by DJ Diego Cano, at 00:30 a.m.
Tomorrow, the day of the Patron Saint, it will dawn with masses and songs in her honor by the different folklore groups and choirs of the city, starting at 06:00. At 11:30 a.m. it will be the turn of the High Mass, which will be presided over by the Bishop of the Diocese of Cartagena, José Manuel Lorca Planes, with the traditional participation of the municipal corporation under clubs and the performance of the group Choirs and Dances of Lorca, who will interpret the ‘Song of the Huertana Mass and traditional Dance of La Jota Lorquina’.
In this Eucharist, people who have contributed in an outstanding way in the aggrandizement of the Sanctuary and of Lorca are distinguished. This year the recognition goes to the businessman from Almeria Francisco Martínez Consentino and the gold medal to the Virgen de la Amargura, owner of the Paso Blanco.
In addition, the 2021 distinctions, whose act could not be held last year, will be delivered to Fernando López Miras and, posthumously, to the former Minister of Culture José Guirao Cabrera.
In the afternoon of that day, at 7:00 p.m., the Holy Mass will be officiated and at the end, it will be the turn of the procession of the Patron Saint of Lorca through the surroundings of the Sanctuary. The closing of the 32nd Virgen de las Huertas International Folklore Festival, starting at 9:30 p.m., will put the finishing touch.
For this Friday, the main dishes will be reserved for the long-awaited cake (7:00 p.m.) and brisca (9:00 p.m.) contests, as well as the concert by the Sevillian group Siempre Así (11:00 p.m.), which has been active for more than 25 years and is known for hit songs such as ‘In my way’, ‘If men have reached the moon’ and ‘To return to return’, among others.
The petanque contest (5:30 p.m.) and the performance of Latin artist Henry Méndez (11:00 p.m.), who will make the public dance with international hits such as ‘Te fueste’ and ‘Rayos de sol’, will be the main attractions on Saturday 10, the closing of the day will be put on by DJ Iván Belmonte’s session on ‘Young Night’, starting at 01:00.
The last day of the Feria Chica, on September 11, the VIII Concentration of Classic Vehicles of Lorca will be held, from 9:30 to 15:00, in Ifelor, and at 10:00 the traditional ‘Cycling Walk’ will begin. In the afternoon there will be the remigio contest (5:00 p.m.), the children’s musical ‘Divertilandia’ (8:30 p.m.) and the copla recital ‘Dímelo cantando’ with María Gracia and Alejandro Canals (10:00 p.m.). A fireworks display will announce, around 11:30 p.m., the end of the Feria Chica 2022.
The mayor of Lorca, Diego José Mateos, and members of the Municipal Corporation attend the act of ‘Toque de Caracolas’. /
The conch shells announce the Big Week
Last Sunday, the Announcer Band of the festivities in honor of the Virgen de las Huertas was recovered in the patron sanctuary, with the participation of the Lorca Choir and Dance Group and the Municipal Music Band, which totaled more than 130 musicians. This act was launched in 2018 and, after two blank years, it once again put a soundtrack to the festivities with, among other songs, the traditional ‘Toque de Caracolas’.
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