Each week on World Music (Saturday nights from 8-10 on KSTX 89.1 FM), I take a look at celebrations happening around the world. This week, we'll toss eggs and plug our ears! Read on to find out why...
TRONADAS
Spain is always up for a fiesta, and next week is no exception. The Reus Summer Festival starts on June 24th. One of the festival highlights is a series of blasts called Tronadas. This custom dates back to the 17th century, when important moments in the town’s history were marked by noisy explosions. The Tronada is a square shaped network of metal cylinders linked together by fireworks. The cylinders are packed with gunpowder, and when the fireworks are ignited, this leads to a series of explosions in a domino pattern. The Tronada occurs four times during the Reus Festival, and is considered so important that the actual igniting is left to the mayor or another honored personage.
EGG THROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS
From the sublime (well, maybe the Tronada is not exactly sublime, but at least it has centuries of tradition behind it) to the ridiculous. The Egg Throwing Championship in England is essentially in its infancy. This year marks only the seventh time the event has been held. Sponsored by the Egg Throwing Federation and attended by locals and representatives from countries as far afield as Bulgaria, Russia, India and Portugal, there are various events which include the messy Egg Russian Roulette--six eggs ready to be smashed on the head, one of them raw. Egg relay races also take place, and needless to say, dropping or breaking your egg is cause for elimination.
Then there’s the actual egg throwing contests. Teams of two toss eggs to each other over 33 feet! Again, dropping or missing the mark brings the participation to an abrupt end.
You can hear more about these and other celebrations happening around the world every Saturday night on World Music with Deirdre Saravia, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on KSTX 89.1 FM.
