Today is Saint George's Day. Just as the Town's Festival is the most important celebration for all the residents of Sitges, Saint George's Day involves the same for Catalans. We have several significant festivities in our calendar (Eleventh of September, Christmas, Easter ...), but Saint George's Day boasts a special flavor thanks to the tradition of giving away a book and a rose, a great contribution that Catalans have made to global culture. Saint George's Day amounts to peruse and buy books, a fully recommended activity, and have them signed by the author. It also amounts to walk around and participate in cultural activities, and express and display our feelings. It's a date that I fully enjoy, as many other Catalans. Now, acting as Mayor of Sitges, I will experience the festivity with a different implication and intensity, but with the same heartfelt emotions.
In recent years, Saint George's Day has acquired a significant projection in Sitges. In times of Pere Junyent, with Marc Martinez acting as Councilman of Culture, the City Council brought together all the activities organized by cultural entities under a common umbrella, to grant them a greater dimension and achieve a merrier celebration. It was a success which has been maintained during years. Today, the festivity is fully consolidated. Years later, the celebration was moved wisely to the promenade, to promote its growth and overcome the limitations of l'Hort de Can Falç or Cap de la Vila.
This year, the book fair, florists and cultural entities will also be the meeting point for all the inhabitants of Sitges. The difficult economic situation that affects the City Hall, which forces us to rationalize the cost to correct the deficit, also forced us to consider the option of sharing costs with participating companies and associations, something that involved an important hike in municipal fees in comparison with other years. Finally, however, we found together a solution that allowed maintaining the celebration with the same charm and high level, without involving an extra cost for exhibitors or the City Hall. Therefore, today we will witness again people swarming among books, roses and cultural entities that also project their image.
Saint George's Day took place last weekend. There were different book presentations, fully displaying the link with our profile as arts village, or yesterday's fantastic performance of "La Jove de Sitges" (Human Towers) at Cap de la Vila, with five of seven and four of seven with needle. Today evening, and also at Cap de la Vila, we will have the opportunity to put an end to one of the most beautiful days of the year with a Sardana dance with Cobla Maricel.
Good Saint George's Day to all!
