The Barranda Crews Festival that is celebrated in Caravaca de la Cruz on the last Sunday of January is also the first and oldest of many traditional music festivals held in Spain And this year 2022 there is more desire than ever for precisely that, to celebrate it, because last year it could not be done, it was canceled like so many other events around the world due to the pandemic.
It is not a party with a long tradition since it began to be celebrated in 1979 but it has become a classic; in fact, many of the gangs that play music in the streets of the district of Barranda had disappeared and re-emerged with the celebration of this joyous, musical, dance-like and festive festival. In this festival of groups, songs of local traditional folklore are interpreted such as animeras, parodic or jotas among others and its origin must be sought, as in most of the festivals that are celebrated in our country, in the religious tradition: the Barranda Crews Festival was born under the protection of the Fiesta de la Candelaria, which is the patron saint of Barranda.
The last weekend of January is therefore a party in the Caravacan district of Barranda and its big day is Sunday, a day in which popular music sounds in all the streets and whoever does not dance, sing or play an instrument is enjoying the wine and the local gastronomy; Barranda has less than 1000 inhabitants but its Party of the Gangs has been declared Festival of National Tourist Interest, which gives us a good measure of the importance of this festival of traditional music.
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