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Festa de la Cooperaciò Catalana

11 October, 2008 (04:28) | Living in Europe | By: admin

Barcelona is a city where there is ALWAYS something fun to do. Yesterday I rode my bike to the beach, through Ciutadella Park and ended up spending a couple hours in Ciutadella Park before reaching my goal, the beach. There was (yet another) festival going on at the park; Festa de la Cooperaciò Catalana. There were various stages with music strategically placed throughout the grounds. There was a circus atmosphere, stalls selling ethnic food – I sat on a hillock in the grass and basked in the sun. A circus-like parade, (tuba, clarinets, drums, jugglers, a man on stilts…) passed by.

I had no idea I would be entertained in this way when I set out on my bike. On my way back from the beach I went through Ciutadella again and it was really happening. I recorded some sounds ( like the passing Felliniésque band, and also a horse and buggy passing by) snapped some photos, swayed to a Catalan funky blues band. I noticed two cute, punk rock lesbians dancing with a tiny kitten and a big Golden Retriever. The kitten looked to be about 6 weeks old, the young lesbians looked to be in their early 20’s. They were dancing and kissing, the kitty on one girl’s shoulder, the golden retriever circling them. Every so often they would put the poor confused kitty down where first it would stand, a bit dazed. The Golden Retriever would come up, lick the kitten. The kitten trotted towards the plants behind which I sat on my bike, observing. The dog would herd the kitten back to the punkette, who scooped the kitty back up onto her shoulder while she continued to sexy dance with her girlfriend.

I picked up a pamphlet on the festa, which I loosely translate from Catalàn:

This event is a celebration of cooperation of the Generalitat of Catalunia with the objective, modest yet complicated, of contributing in modifying north-south relations to favor sustainable humanity.

The fight for eradication of poverty, the defence of fundamental human rights and the strengthening of peaceful values, ecology, democracy, education, equality and fair trade…the pillars which sustain our task.

With this encounter we want to share, in a festive way, the cooperation and help long-lasting development of responsibility for all to collaborate.