Fiesta de las castanas

Wednesdays walk down to Yator past Ermita de San Sebastian

turn right onto Calle Era Alta

up the footpath to Era Alta

with seats and the tv/phone masts

and a view to Yator

the path towards Montenegro

first glimpse of our house

The fiesta of the castañas  - sweet chestnuts - starts today in Mecina Bombaron.  And presumably in other places too,  the day on the ayuntamiento (local council) calendar is November 1st but that is another holiday too,  Fiesta de todos los Santos,  or All Saints.  Hard to keep up with all these fiestas isn't it!!

Back to the chestnuts...

1º de Noviembre: Fiesta de las castañas
El sentido de la fiesta de las Castañas hay que buscarlo en la antigua costumbre que tenían los labradores Alpujarreños de festejar la recolección de las cosechas como muestra de agradecimiento a los frutos recibidos de la naturaleza, es pues desde este punto de vista una fiesta pagana. La celebración actual data del año 1986, año en que se recupero la tradición de pasar toda la velada tostando castañas mientras se amenizaba con cantos y bailes la fiesta. En Mecina Bombarón, según los más antiguos, existen los castaños más antiguos de la Alpujarra, algunos de ellos incluso del tiempo de los Moriscos. En torno al fruto de la castaña se ha desarrollado una amplia cultura gastronómica, en la que muchos platos tienen como ingrediente principal la castaña.

And a rough translation is..
 
The meaning of the chestnut festival must be sought in the old custom that the Alpujarreños farmers had to celebrate the harvest of the crops as a sign of gratitude to the fruits received from nature, it's therefore from this point of view a pagan festival. The current celebration dates back to 1986, a year in which the tradition of spending the whole evening toasting chestnuts was recovered while singing and dancing.  In Mecina Bombarón, according to the oldest people, there are the oldest chestnuts of the Alpujarra, some of them even from the time of the Moriscos. Around the chestnut fruit has developed a wide gastronomic culture, in which many dishes have the chestnut as the main ingredient.  (Source:google translate)  as a double check with my translation!

Moriscos were former Muslims converted or coerced into converting to Christianity. (source:wikipedia)

On to All Saints day,  celebrated in various forms all over the world.  Lots to read about the various customs on this wikipedia link here..