Patum de Berga

The tradition & historical record

The Patum de Berga (Catalan pronunciation: [pəˈtum də ˈβeɾɣə]), or simply La Patum, is a popular and traditional festival that is celebrated each year in the Catalan city of Berga (Barcelona) during Corpus Christi, typically between late May and late June. It consists of a series of "dances", called salts, by townspeople carrying mystical and symbolic figures and accompanied either by the rhythm of a drum—the tabal, whose sound gives the festival its name—or band music. The salts are marked by their solemnity and their ample use of fire and pyrotechnics. It was declared a Traditional Festival of National Interest by the Generalitat de Catalunya in 1983. In 2005, UNESCO declared it one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity and, in 2008, inscribed it on its Representative List. ¹

"La Patum" developed from medieval festivities and processions associated with Corpus Christi. Some interpretations identify older ritual or pre-Christian elements within the festival, but its documented historical development is closely connected with the Corpus celebrations of Berga. In Berga, La Patum has been celebrated since at least 1454. The origins of the festival come from the figures in this procession, destined to educate the people on Christian values. With time, the figures acquired a more festive aspect. This evolved into La Bullícia del Santíssim Sagrament, or Bulla, referenced in 1715. The festival evolved and incorporated more elements of popular and religious theater during the period called Procés de Potenciació de la Patum, in the 19th century, leading to a unique combination of giants, devils, angels, moors, and other bizarre-looking characters. Despite the religious significance of Corpus Christi and the Patum's descent from "eucharistic performances," in its present form it is rather a show of popular theater. La Patum has been the subject of scholarly research in folklore, anthropology and performance studies. During Spain´s transition to democracy, it attracted participants from across Catalonia and became a focus of democratic and Catalan nationalist resistance. The festival´s comparses are historic objects as well as performing figures. A conversation study notes that many are at least a century old; they perform during the five days of Corpus celebrations and have received annual conservation treatment by qualified specialists since 2004. ¹

The Quatre Fuets (Four Fuets) are two salts of Maces with the objective of try the fuets (gerbs that explode, called like this because of their shape) that will be used the next days. It is performed during Trinity Sunday. ¹

Patum Completa (Full Patum) is the main event of the festival. They are celebrated during the nights of Thursday and Sunday. The square fills with people while the troupes perform their salts in its center. They enter one by one, and the assistants leap around them. There are four rounds of salts when every troupe does their dance, except for the Plens, who only do their salt at the end of the second and fourth rounds. After the second salt of plens, around 3:00 a.m., the Guites and the Gegants Vells start the Tirabols. Full Patums always start with the band playing Els Segadors. ¹

Patum de Lluïment (Cerimonial Patum) is shorter and less crowded than full Patum. They are celebrated on Thursday and Sunday at 12:00 p.m., when the mass ends. Only one round is done, without the Plens. The Tirabols are performed by the Guites and the two couples of Gegants. It starts with the entourage of the local authorities from the church to the town hall. ¹

Passacarrers/Passades (Parades) are processions throughout the old quarter of Berga. There are two types: ¹

The midday passacarrers are only done on Wednesday. The Tabal, followed by both couples of Gegants, dances with the music played by a band. It is the only act without fireworks. The night passacerrers are done on Wednesday and Saturday. The Tabal, followed by the Maces, Guites, and the old couple of Gegants, dance throughout the streets of Berga to stop in some squares to do a salt. They are ended with Tirabols. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Patum de Berga”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Patum de Berga is festival in Berga, UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 4 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²