The Festival Of Moors And Christians In Almassera (valencia)

VALENCIA, Spain - Sept. 22, 2015 - PRLog -- Last Saturday students of a language school in Valencia had the opportunity to take part in the traditional Moors &Christians Festival in the village of Almassera in the Valencian community. They did not only come there to observe the festivities but to actually participate in the parade disguised as the Moors on behalf of the army of Hassam Hardà (Filà Mora Hassam Hardá) which provided them with the unique opportunity to practice Spanish and “live Spain”.

The end of August is a special time for Almassera (http://www.almassera.es/) – a small village in the north of Valencia. It is time of the traditional Moors & Christians Festival that is celebrated throughout the Valencian community in south east Spain. It commemorates the battles fought between Moors (Muslims) and Christians during the period known as “Reconquista” (reconquest). Eventually, the Moors were defeated by the Christians, ending approximately 800 years of their rule in Spain.

The language school Costa de Valencia (http://www.costadevalencia.com/en/1-learn-spanish-spain/1...) was invited to this event by The Moorish “army” of Hassam Hardà (http://filahassamharda.blogspot.com.es/) participates in the festivities. After their arrival in Almassera everybody gathered at the local football field and began with preparations. First they put on the beautiful costumes and then made their faces up. After that they headed to the town where all the streets, balconies and windows were filled with people intent on not missing a single thing. Before the parade started, students had to learn how to march correctly. It might seem easy but in reality they had a hard time at the beginning to synchronize their steps.

Later, to the acompaniment of music and with all the pomp and majesty one could hope for, they marched in procession along with the various groups that make up the Moorish and Christian fractions, desperately trying to outshine each other’s sumptuous costumes. At the end participants arrived at the main square where the speaker introduced all the groups.

After the procession had ended all the groups gathered at the playground of the local school, where they had dinner followed by Horchata - traditional drink from Valencia.

Ines Ferre Murcia, student of audio-visual communication at the University of Valencia and an intern at the language school, made a video of the event (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnp2Yx4Z_Bg).



If u enjoyed the video and would like to be part of another Moors & Christians Festival, get ready, because on Friday, 2^nd October 2015, Costa de Valencia along with The Moorish group of Hassam Hardà is heading to Almenara to represent themselves during the local festivities.