From San Cayetano to La Paloma
August and September are party months par excellence, especially in towns in rural areas. Perhaps it has to do with summer, when they fill up with urban visitors who go back to their roots, swim in the local pools and meet up with old friends. It makes sense, therefore, that festivals take place during the time that there are more people, each with their own tradition, many of which, though, related to the Assumption of Mary, also known as the Virgin of August.
All of this also happens in Madrid, despite it not being a town, but the f
eeling of belonging in districts and neighbourhoods makes it feel like one.
Madrid, “the city of small nations” as the writer Elvira Lindo wrote in her article in EL PAÍS a few years ago, is no longer the anonymous city that singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina depicted in his early days and has become the one where everyone has their place despite its frenetic pace thanks to its atmosphere of harmony, respect, coexistence and mutual learning.
A clear example of this is the Lavapiés district, the most strategic area to enjoy the festivals which take place in Madrid during the month of August. It all begins on the 2nd with the Festival of San Cayetano in the neighbourhood of Embajadores/El Rastro and continues on the 9th with the Festival of San Lorenzo in Lavapiés, ending on the 12th–15th in La Latina.
If you organise it properly, you can dance chotis and drink lemonade non-stop for a whole fortnight and then relax and save energy for the end of summer and the upcoming festivals. That’s when the Melonera Festival takes place, usually during the first or second week of September, making the return to school a bit less stressful with live music around Madrid Río and outdoor activities which continue until the leaves start to fall from the trees.
(Photo courtesy of Guía del Ocio)
Categories: Madrid Cultura
