Dragon Festival
Encyclopedia
The Dragon Festival is a Spanish free festival
which ran from 1997 to 2009, held at Los Cigarrones on the riverbed of the Rio Guadalfeo, 2 km to the south of Órgiva
, Spain
, during the month of March, and culminating on the weekend nearest the Spring Equinox
(March 21). The festival was a celebration of various alternative cultures and included live music and theater.
) is renowned now for its alternative 'hippy' scene.
In 1996, flooding washed away a huge swath of land in Cigarrones, clearing the way for a gathering. On March 14, 1997 a huge sail depicting a jolly dragon was raised in Cigarrones and the Dragon Festival was born. The hundred or so people present could never of imagined that by 2001 nearly 10,000 people would attend.
Although the majority of people who had bought land at Cigarrones were party to the festival, the idea of so many people turning up for a 'wild weekend' which on occasions continued for weeks, inevitably caused some rifts in the community.
Police presence had been virtually nonexistent but by 2002 the festival's increasing size was attracting the attention of the local Partido Popular
(PP - center-right) majority council. The Mayor placed a prohibition order on the festival and called in police reinforcements in order to create a noticeable police presence.
The Dragon Festival was causing a national media stir, firstly because banning a fiesta in Andalucia was simply unheard of but mostly because two people had died at the festival in 2002.
in the road leading to the festival site. However, the impending Iraq war gave voice to the festival's call for peace. For several weeks, residents from the festival site, daily dressed in pink and sang their way to the police line to offer the police tea and cakes. The effect was spectacular and on the eve of the festival the police stepped aside, allowing the festival to take place.
Local elections brought a new Partido Socialista Obrero Español
(PSOE - center-left) Mayoress to power who had previously been quite vocal about 'embracing' the Dragon Festival, however it was unanimously felt in the festival community that any interface with the local authorities was not the way to go since it could mean restrictive regulations and control.
Early in 2009 a huge earth moving vehicle arrived at the festival site with support from the Guardia Civil and one member of the Policia Local. They proceeded to excavate holes two meters deep and two meters wide across the entire festival site, claiming they were for a tree planting project. More than two thousand holes were excavated across public land making it impossible to park anywhere, so if there was to be a 2009 Dragon Festival it would only be possible on the relatively small areas of pro-festival owners' land left without holes.
Two days before the 2009 Spring Equinox a prohibition order was posted proclaiming a ban on the Dragon Festival on grounds of health and safety and that anyone found organizing the event would be charged and if convicted, receive hefty fines.
The charge against three people were dropped but the remaining four people have taken their case to the Crown Court in Granada on the grounds that nothing was done to enforce the ban on the festival in 2009 so in their defense, these land owners claim that they could have done little themselves to stop it even if they had wanted to.
The court cases were resolved with the exception of one against Mr Alex Brimmel. Mr Brimmel's lawyer claims the charges against Mr Brimmel brought by the Town Hall should have expired but the Town Hall bypassed normal channels so the case cannot be resolved. Mr Brimmel has brought a case against the Town Hall for unconstitutional practices in order to resolve his case.
In 2010 an estimated 1500 people created a free festival in Santa Fe
, 4 km to the west of Granada
(60 km north of Orgiva) and is widely perceived as the new home of the Dragon Festval.
The Dragon Festival continues at Santa Fe.
Free festival
Free festivals are a combination of music, arts and cultural activities for which, often, no admission is charged, but involvement is preferred. They are identifiable by being multi-day events connected by a camping community without centralised control. The Free festival movement being the...
which ran from 1997 to 2009, held at Los Cigarrones on the riverbed of the Rio Guadalfeo, 2 km to the south of Órgiva
Órgiva
Órgiva is a municipality in the Alpujarra mountains in Spain. It has a population of around 6,000 and lies in a depression between the Sierra de Lujar and Sierra Nevada. In recent years it has become a popular tourist destination for those visiting La Alpujarra, and the town is often described as...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, during the month of March, and culminating on the weekend nearest the Spring Equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
(March 21). The festival was a celebration of various alternative cultures and included live music and theater.
History
The town of Orgiva (a garrison town that marked a front line throughout the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
) is renowned now for its alternative 'hippy' scene.
In 1996, flooding washed away a huge swath of land in Cigarrones, clearing the way for a gathering. On March 14, 1997 a huge sail depicting a jolly dragon was raised in Cigarrones and the Dragon Festival was born. The hundred or so people present could never of imagined that by 2001 nearly 10,000 people would attend.
Although the majority of people who had bought land at Cigarrones were party to the festival, the idea of so many people turning up for a 'wild weekend' which on occasions continued for weeks, inevitably caused some rifts in the community.
Police presence had been virtually nonexistent but by 2002 the festival's increasing size was attracting the attention of the local Partido Popular
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
(PP - center-right) majority council. The Mayor placed a prohibition order on the festival and called in police reinforcements in order to create a noticeable police presence.
The Dragon Festival was causing a national media stir, firstly because banning a fiesta in Andalucia was simply unheard of but mostly because two people had died at the festival in 2002.
Prohibition attempt
In 2003 an attempt was made by the authorities to prevent the Dragon Festival taking place with the heavy of Guardia CivilCivil Guard (Spain)
The Civil Guard is the Spanish gendarmerie. It has foreign peace-keeping missions and maintains military status and is the equivalent of a federal military-status police force. As a police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the...
in the road leading to the festival site. However, the impending Iraq war gave voice to the festival's call for peace. For several weeks, residents from the festival site, daily dressed in pink and sang their way to the police line to offer the police tea and cakes. The effect was spectacular and on the eve of the festival the police stepped aside, allowing the festival to take place.
Local elections brought a new Partido Socialista Obrero Español
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
(PSOE - center-left) Mayoress to power who had previously been quite vocal about 'embracing' the Dragon Festival, however it was unanimously felt in the festival community that any interface with the local authorities was not the way to go since it could mean restrictive regulations and control.
Local opposition
Over the years, a few members of the Cigarrones neighborhood had made their opposition to the festival known.Early in 2009 a huge earth moving vehicle arrived at the festival site with support from the Guardia Civil and one member of the Policia Local. They proceeded to excavate holes two meters deep and two meters wide across the entire festival site, claiming they were for a tree planting project. More than two thousand holes were excavated across public land making it impossible to park anywhere, so if there was to be a 2009 Dragon Festival it would only be possible on the relatively small areas of pro-festival owners' land left without holes.
Two days before the 2009 Spring Equinox a prohibition order was posted proclaiming a ban on the Dragon Festival on grounds of health and safety and that anyone found organizing the event would be charged and if convicted, receive hefty fines.
Prosecutions
Within days of the posting of the prohibition order, seven pro-festival land owners received paperwork telling them they had been found guilty on an 'administrative' charge (ie.. ignoring a local authorities' ban) and had each been fined the sum of thirty thousand and fifty Euros. Failure to pay would mean the seizure of any assets, including their land.The charge against three people were dropped but the remaining four people have taken their case to the Crown Court in Granada on the grounds that nothing was done to enforce the ban on the festival in 2009 so in their defense, these land owners claim that they could have done little themselves to stop it even if they had wanted to.
The court cases were resolved with the exception of one against Mr Alex Brimmel. Mr Brimmel's lawyer claims the charges against Mr Brimmel brought by the Town Hall should have expired but the Town Hall bypassed normal channels so the case cannot be resolved. Mr Brimmel has brought a case against the Town Hall for unconstitutional practices in order to resolve his case.
Relocation
The long wet winter of 2009/2010 once again flooded Cigarrones, filling in most of the holes and cutting off access, effectively stopping any large gathering in 2010.In 2010 an estimated 1500 people created a free festival in Santa Fe
Santa Fe, Granada
Santa Fe is a Spanish municipality in the province of Granada, situated in the Vega de Granada, irrigated by the river Genil.The town was originally built by the Catholic armies besieging Granada after a fire destroyed much of their encampment....
, 4 km to the west of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
(60 km north of Orgiva) and is widely perceived as the new home of the Dragon Festval.
The Dragon Festival continues at Santa Fe.