Pollensa, Culture and traditions

The fiestas of the Patrona in Pollensa are an ancient civic-religious celebration. Cannon shots, fireworks and bell ringing mark the beginning of the festival which will carry on until the 2^nd of August, day of the patron saint, "Mare de Déu dels Àngels" with an vast array of social and cultural activities for all ages and tastes (games, exhibitions, concerts...).

The focal point of the festival however is the mock battle of the Moors and Christians which takes place on the 2^nd of August (day of Pollensa´s Patron saint). It commemorates the battle between the people of Pollensa and the 1500 moors lead by the corsair Dragut, which took place on the 30^th of May 1550 when Pollensa endured its most ferocious corsair attack.

Pollensa´s Music Festival has been an international occasion for music lovers since it was founded in 1962 by the renowned violinist Philip Newman. Every year a series of concerts fill two whole summer months in one of the most beautiful destinations in the Mediterranean: Pollensa, set in the north of the delightful island of Mallorca.

Past concerts have attracted some of the most reputed musicians in the world, from pop, jazz and traditional music to classical music, for which the festival is best known historically. The combination of a magical setting, in the Cloisters of Santo Domingo, an internationally famous Balearic venue and temperate Mallorcan climate creates a rich and evocative scene for equally complex and beautiful music.

Easter week is the annual Christian celebration commemorating the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ.

Although it is a wholly religious festival many visitors find the experience fulfilling for all kinds of different reasons, and enjoy it for the arrival of fair weather, the start of spring or the captivating beauty of the processions and ceremonies.

In Pollensa, with the arrival of CopusChisti, the town dresses up in its Sunday best for a religious celebration which only survives here, in this municipality.

The dance of "The Eagles" is made up of three figures: On one side there is "Sant Joan Pelós", hairy Saint John, who dances barefoot with a newborn lam in his hunters pouch. He carries a cross in his right hand and his face is covered with a mask symbolising the Saint he represents.

On the 20th of January, Pollensa celebrates the day of Saint Sebastian with a traditional procession known as "ElsCavallets i L' estandar", the Horses and the Banner.

Two young men dressed with cardboard horses leave from the church in Pollensa dancing through the main streets of town. They are followed by a young man dressed as a roman bearing the banner of Saint Sebastian. Two drummers walk behind, followed by "Les xeremies", traditional Mallorcan bagpipes and the relic, with friends and family of the protagonists bringing up the rear of the procession.

One of the most avidly awaited dates on the festival calendar takes place on the 16th and 17th of January with the fiesta of Saint Anthony. It is jam packed with all kinds of events and traditions, gastronomy, the spinach delicacies, vegetable pastries and pies, social and popular events like the much loved Pine tree of Saint Anthony, bonfires, demons and idiots...

On the night of the 16^th of January the town is filled with the haze of dozens of burning bonfires. The townspeople congregate around them to eat and drink with family and friends to the sound of popular singing.