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Felanitx celebrates its local fiesta on August 28th, Saint Augustine's day. To tell the truth, it's a bit of an exotic patron saint, given that most Majorcan towns and villages celebrate Saint John, Saint Anthony, Saint Joseph or Saint Sebastian.
The Town Hall organizes a whole week of activities: sports, theatre, a children's festival, etc., including four or five outdoors music and dance night festivals, named "verbenes".
Wait...., you are about to get a wrong general picture. Felanitx is a very boring town all year long, and so the local fiesta has become. The Town Hall has been repeating again and again the same programme of activities for decades. Even the verbenes, once very crowded and famous, are now only "acceptable". They are not the best verbenes of Majorca any longer, a big frustration for the locals.
In 1983, a group of young people decided it was time for a change and they took the bull by the horns. As usual when there is a success, they didn't have a plan. It just happened. That's how El Coso was born and it still goes on. They got together to go to the bullfighting, the only activity in the afternoon of Saint Agustine's day. White shirt, red fichu, lots of wine, lots of food, music, 35º Centigrades, fun till the night festival and more fun at the night festival.
Nowadays, more than 500 people join El Coso at the bullfighting, and fun starts early in the morning and goes on for 24 hours. It's a full non-official programme of activities. Well, to be honest, you never really know what the group is going to do or what is going to happen next, as improvisation rules the whole business.
However, there are a number of things which are almost sacred. The stuffed laying hen resurrects at 7 o'clock in the morning. (Some old chap is honoured with the job of carrying the hen on a stick all day). Then, an all morning crazy parade starts. The group follows the hen, the bagpipe and the small drum around the town, with as many bar stops as humanly possible, "lo gran petarro" (a string of fireworks), through the stalls of the street market, with an emotional visit to the old people's home and an anarchist adoration of the authorities during their official morning celebrations. The situation is always a character test for our local and regional politicians. They have learned over the years and some of them even smile now.
A non-suitable lunch for vegetarians (meat balls) comes next, if someone has bothered to organize it. Some people eat, some others fall in the plate, some plates fall on some people, everybody drinks.
After lunch, El Coso heads for the bullring with its own music band. The Felanitx bullring is the size of a toy and it is called La Macarena. Only very few members of El Coso are really interested in bullfighting. The others go there because of tradition and because that's where the fun is. Singing, shouting, < the wave, eating and drinking, sweating,...
Afterwards, procession again to the town centre with a refreshing stop to eat melon and water melon, and to drink sangria. More music and street dancing till dinner time. Anything can happen after dinner, but sooner or later El Coso will head for the Parc Municipal, where the verbena takes place. Survivers will go on dancing and having fun till they are not survivers anymore. Finally, at seven o'clock of August 29th, a short funerary ceremony of the stuffed laying hen is celebrated. The hen will be in lethargy for 364 days.
Amigo Félix: for reasons beyond comprehension, favourite song of
El Coso.
En Capó i en Nou Sous: two of the old leaders of El
Coso.
La Punyalada: the hen resurrects in front of this bar.
L'Hospici: old people's home.
Lo Gran Petarro: string of fireworks.
Quica (or kika): a stuffed laying hen of small size. It's an
oracle for El Coso.
S'Arraval: a square in Felanitx. Cata Picó lives there and from her balcony Lo Gran Petarro is fired.
Sa Font: the central square of Felanitx.
Xeremiers: pipers.
