The Fia-faia, the winter falles to ask for the days to grow

The Chair of Education and Intangible Heritage of the Pyrenees celebrates the second anniversary of the declaration of falles Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO with different events.

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Xavier Pedrals, author of the book Fia-faia. La festa de falles nadalenca, explained today that this festival has its origin in the ancient rites of sun worship like the rest of such manifestations. "The difference is found at the time of celebration, one in summer and the other in winter, because it used to ask for the days to stop being short and to grow with more hours of sunlight". The presentation of the book has taken place in the framework of the second anniversary of the declaration of the Fire Festivities Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, which the Chair of Education and Intangible Heritage of the Pyrenees of the University of Lleida (UdL) has celebrated with different events throughout the day.

The book presented is complementary to another, La Fia-faia, ancestral, màgica, única (The Fia-faia, ancestral, magical, unique), by the same author, who is member of the Association of the Fia-faia and archivist of Berguedà’s Regional Archive. Pedrals commented that "for a long time, we wanted to have a rigorous, comprehensive, didactic and illustrated text of our festivity”. Thus, the 90 photographs that accompany the edition, mostly by Manel Escobet, have been chosen from more than 4,000 images and "become an unbeatable visual support in the different explanations proposed”.

The director of the Chair, Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology, Sofia Isus, who wrote the preface of the book, highlighted "the pleasant and understandable reading" and the fact that "it represents a remarkable contribution to the future we want for our festivities, among other things, because it is done with great rigor and it is very well documented”. The Fia-faia, celebrated in Bagà and in Sant Julià de Cerdanyola, is a Patrimonial Festivity of National Interest in Catalonia, together with the falles of Isil, due to its age and continuity in the celebration.

Otherwise, Matiu Fauré, member of the Eth Ostau Comengés Association, commented the audiovisual about the fire festivities in Comenge-Varossa that was presented below. The audiovisual material, unpublished, explains the development of the festivities, the preparation and the burning of the harem and provides the testimony of a participant. Throughout the day, a photographic exhibition of the Fia-faia has also been exhibited in the lobby of the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work of the University of Lleida.