Fishermen and Berbers merge with the countryside and the sardine fishermen in a parade that distributed 20,000 toys
What we were and what we are merged this Saturday afternoon in the International Side of the Garden and the Sea. A costumbrista parade that flaunted the regional identity through some of its most deeply rooted symbols. Floats that emulated oil paintings of family scenes, such as laundresses, seamstresses or fishermen making a cauldron from the Mar Menor, followed in the footsteps of the horsemen who opened the 19th edition of the Bando.
Oxen with carts and groups of milkmen on bicycles suddenly brought images of another time to the streets of Los Alcázares. The folklore crews alternated with the Guzzi motorcycles and the more seafaring floats, such as the one shown in an old spa of which there are few witnesses from another era.
The float for the 50th anniversary of the Week of the Huerta had the form of a double-decker bus, in which the mayors of Murcia -as a guest municipality-, José Antonio Serrano, and that of Los Alcázares, Mario Pérez Cervera, traveled with members of both corporations.
The 34 participating floats left Los Narejos loaded with more than 20,000 toys, in addition to hundreds of kilos of melons and peppers to give away to the public. The sardine floats were in their sauce, along with the Murcian folk groups and the mobile barracks of the panochistas and minstrels.
The big heads of Murcia, the orchard throne of the Berber representation and the children’s court of the orchard joined the great parade that aims to reaffirm the ties between the coast and the interior of the Region. The international color was provided by the groups from Costa Rica and Argentina. From the varied national folklore, those from Granada and Gran Canaria were represented, which mixed with the Murcian choir and dance groups, such as Antoñete Gálvez, from the El Ciazo rock, the Virgen de Loreto, from the Los Güertanos rock and those from the rock La Horqueta. The comparsa El Universo, the most traditional in the coastal municipality, left the sequins in the closet to join the huertana tradition with flowers and a petticoat.
With the Bando, the Week of the Huerta reaches the high point of its 50th anniversary, which will end next Wednesday. With an influx of public that has filled the fairgrounds to the brim, this festival of cultures will continue today and on Monday with folklore festivals in the auditorium and the usual atmosphere in the gastronomic stalls and the craft fair.
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