Barcelona

The four displays being organised by the Bandarra group will be very special this year:

• Can Bandarra meeting, Saturday, 4 May, at 6 pm. The 25th anniversary supper will be held after the display.
• 25th anniversary meeting, Saturday, 6 July, at 6 pm, to be held in the parade square at Montjuïc Castle, with the guest groups of the Castellers de Lleida and the Tirallongues de Manresa. After the human towers display, the party continues with DJ Janux (8.30 pm) and a concert by Les Que Falta Band (10.30 pm). Supper is available, with Catalan pork sausage and gaspacho for €5 (vegan option also available).
• MNAC meeting, Sunday, 13 October, in the Sala Oval. One of the most unique and iconic spaces, where the group performed for a first and only time before being officially presented. The Palau Nacional is also the building that appears on their shield.
• Autumn meeting, 10 November, at 12 noon. This display in front of C/ Blai, 34, rounds off the season in a location that has been the scene for the group’s main achievements, such as their first 5 by 7 tower (2009) and the first and so far their only classic tower of 8 (2015). This year it will also be the crowning moment of a whole weekend of traditional culture activities in the neighbourhood (9-10 November).

Besides their grand performances, in terms of human towers there are some other attractive events for the group with the sky blue shirts:

• Trip to Andorra: 15 and 16 June.
• Underground tower: an expedition by the group into a sinkhole, to build a human tower there on Sunday, 22 September.

Besides human towers, the 25th anniversary of the group includes two special dates on the calendar, both as part of the Festa Major del Poble-sec, with Clara Aler and Benet Íñigo representing the group by giving the opening speech. The first is during the weekend of the Sec a Sac, the music festival being held in the Parc de les Tres Xemeneies on 19 and 20 July. The other is a day of family activities the following Thursday, 25 July, which coincides with the exact date of the group’s official presentation in 1999.

Remembering the past, looking to the future

The Castellers del Poble Sec are preparing a documentary and an exhibition on the path and the spirit of the group over these 25 years. 

The ‘Bandarres’ have always been a singular group, with their own character. The very name of the group is a good example. Created by people with little or no human towers knowledge, the group have been irreverent and original from the start. Their erotic calendar (2011) and audiovisual sculpture Castelloscopi (City of Barcelona Award 2015) are examples of this.

As an organisation they have always had a clear social vocation, working from and for the neighbourhood. Notable examples in this respect include granting the use of their premises to various organisations during the pandemic, as well as programmes for the integration of newly arrived people, such as Tots Som Una Colla, which has been going for more than a decade.

They also have their own style when it comes to building human towers. With wobbly yet resistant constructions, and able to pull off impossible towers, they have earned a name as real fighters. This is why the slogan for their 15th anniversary is A la poblesequina!, underlining the group’s own style in all areas. The slogan was chosen by a large majority in a vote among the group’s members in February. The logo that it goes with, the winning entry in a competition with a prize of €300, is the work of Deborah Balbuena.