The Cebreros provincial parade put an end to the 2008 carnivals in the province of Ávila. More than 20,000 people gathered there who enjoyed the ingenuity of the nearly 1,300 registered in this contest.
Yesterday, more than 20,000 people enjoyed the traditional provincial parade of floats and comparsas of ‘Domingo de Piñata ‘in Cebreros, with which the carnival festivities in this province were put to an end. On this occasion, there were 17 floats and 28 groups with about 1,300 participants that paraded through the main street of Cebreros to the Plaza de España under an intense sun that accompanied the celebration throughout the morning.
The parade started around 12:00 hours with the local troupes, which drew the first applause from the public that gathered on both sides of the street. The Municipal Music Band of Cebreros opened an endless line of costumes among which there were from all kinds of animals and transhumant cattlemen to branded bags, Africans and voles. After them, the components of the troupes from other towns such as San Juan del Molinillo, La Colilla, Pedro Bernardo, Santa María del Tiétar, Arévalo, Ávila, San Esteban de los Patos, Casillas, Sotillo de la Adrada, El Barraco and Arenas de Saint Peter, who gave a good example of the imagination that presides over these celebrations.
And after the comparsas it was the turn of the floats, first the local ones and then those of Piedrahita, La Adrada and Arenas de San Pedro, which closed the parade. An imposing dragon, a pirate skull, a Chinese pagoda and a rigorous live heavy concert were some of the proposals presented in this eleventh edition.
After the parade, all the participants gathered in the Plaza de España to await the jury’s decision. A lot of fun, but also some nerves that were evident among those present. Not surprisingly, the prizes are not negligible, as they ranged between 250 and 1,300 euros.
Within the eleventh edition of the provincial contest, the 1,300 euros of the first prize for floats went to the ‘Fire Dragon’, from Cebreros, which showed a magnificent specimen accompanied by medieval knights, while the second, endowed with 1,000 euros, was for ‘Concert heavy’, by Arenas de San Pedro. Meanwhile, the third prize and its corresponding 700 euros went to the ‘Casa Chin Chon’, in La Adrada and the fourth, endowed with 400 euros, went to ‘Tutankamon’, from Piedrahíta.
In the chapter of comparsas, the first prize was won by ‘One for all and all for one’, which took Arévalo the 700 euros of the award, while the second, endowed with 550 euros, went to ‘Spring Fantasy ‘of Cebreros. The poster of winners was completed with ‘Las supremas’, from El Barraco, who received 400 euros, and with ‘Piratas del Río Chico’, from Ávila capital, who won a prize of 250 euros.
But in addition to these provincial awards, those corresponding to the local Cebreros carnival, held the previous weekend, were also presented. The first prize for floats went to “Dragon of fire”, the second to “Pirates of stewing”, the third to “This is all friends” and the fourth to “The little bubble in the Rabbit puddle.” As for the troupes, the winners were for ‘Spring Fantasy,’ Pearls of the Nile ‘,’ The voles arrive at Cebreros’ and ‘Good harvest’. The amounts of the local awards were the same as for the provincial.
But the Cebreros carnival party did not close until the afternoon, at which time, as tradition marks, the ‘dance of the corro’ was celebrated, in which men dance the traditional jota of the area in the interior of the Plaza del Ayuntamiento and the women do it outside, to wear their shawls for more than two hours.