The Dance of the Horned Man

Festival Location: Cornella del Terri, Catalonia, Spain

Festival Type(s): Traditional Festivals , Folk Dancing Festivals | Traditional Dancing Festivals , Cultural Festivals

Festival Photos of The Dance of the Horned Man: gallery 1

The Dance of the Horned Man

by © Genevieve Shaw 2008

The Easter weekend glimmers in the month of April like a highly prized resting point, resplendent with potential for revelling and relaxation. Like an aperitif before the long awaited summer months, this moment of the year is to be sweetly savoured. Forgotten friends swarm to the capital of Catalonia, like bees to honey, on the emailed suggestion of sunshine and Sangria. In mass exodus, the indigenous population leaves Barcelona in preference for sandy land and early sessions of bikini sporting. A calm Sunday afternoon atmosphere descends over the city for a four day stretch, peppered only by intermittent religious processions along Barcelona's most famous street, the Ramblas.

A world away from the black garbed cross bearers of Barcelona's streets are the ruby red, horned dancers of Cornella del Terri, a small town located 113 kilometres north of Barcelona in the region of Girona. At first glimpse, the ritualistic type celebrations that are held over Easter in this town are disorientating, given that Spain is associated so strongly with Roman Catholicism. But, like other towns in Catalonia, festivities that seemingly stem from Pagan roots are part and parcel of the ingrained daily culture.

The exact origins of this festival are unclear but existing historical documents date back to before the 1200's. Events begin on Good Friday when the villagers cut down the tallest pine in a nearby forest and carry it back, by hand, to Cornella del Terrí. Here, several sets of animal horns are tied to the tree trunk, giving it a macabre appearance for the uninitiated onlooker. On Easter Monday, at 12 o'clock midday, crowds of people congregate in the village to watch the tree being hoisted up, by a group of men, and secured in the centre of the main square, where it will remain until Good Friday of the following year. This is a strangely emotional event and although there are only a couple of hundred people present at this local festival the atmosphere is sensational. Once the Pine is held in place, three couples dressed in Catalan peasant costume dance round the tree while the protagonist of the festival enters centre stage: "El Cornut," the Horned Man. Vibrantly decorated in red, this figure is strangely stunning, remarkable due to a huge pair of Ram's horns that he wears on top of his head. El Cornut leaps amidst the other dancers and selects one of the females before exiting the main square hand in hand, and dancing off out of the town.

Breathtakingly odd, or brazenly at odds, with Christian Easter ceremonies, this festival hints of a past replete with rituals that centre on nature and fertility. It is suggested that these original celebrations, based on the Spanish agricultural calendar, have been taken over by more recent Christian acts of worship, such as Easter. Another suggested theory surrounding the festival is based on the concept of the cuckolded man. In the Middle Ages barons had the right to "try out" a newly married woman before spending the night with her husband. According to local legend, the last man to be cuckolded killed the baron thus ending the unappealing tradition. Whether this is true or not, the festival is recognized officially as an event of national historical interest and a visit to Cornella del Terrí during the month of April will certainly affirm the assertion that variety is the spice of life.

culTOURa : Trips in English to the Folkloric and Fantastical "Festes" of Catalonia

culTOURa wants people to experience the sometimes strange, always stunning, Catalan customs. Throughout the year, festivals and "Festes" turn the Catalan towns into magical kingdoms of Giants, Human Castles, Dragons and Devils. culTOURa brings these traditions alive for visitors in an alternative form of cultural tourism, while promoting Catalonia as a place with its own unique identity.

by Genevieve Shaw

Festival Photos of The Dance of the Horned Man: gallery 1

The Dance of the Horned Man Dates and Location

The Dance of the Horned Man is held in Cornella del Terri, a small town located 113 kilometres north of Barcelona in the region of Girona over Easter each and every year