Carnival

Every year for 3 days Àneu Valleys celebrate the Carnival. It begins on Sunday with a passacaglia welcoming the Carnival King and the powers of the town. Monday of carnival the carnival becomes the "plega” where the women, with the accompaniment of a steel band, demand being able to celebrate, on Tuesday, the dinner of brotherhood and the popular "calderada" (boilerful) where the whole people eats the typical food of the Pallars The Carnival finishes, on tuesday, burning the carnival king and going to the "venté" to throw his ashes. Every day there are afternoon dance and evening dance, and no lack of costume competitions either for adults and children.

Easter - Jews Procession

The Holy Week of Esterri d'Àneu has recovered the traditional "Jews" procession. It’s about two lines of armed Romans, with a well typical and unusual clothing, led by the captain, who set the pace of the march. The armed Romans head the Holy Friday processions, the “viacrucees” in the morning and the burial in the night. In the middle of the armed walks “the Samaritana”, a woman with a mud bowl and behind them, Jesus, the Virgin of the Pains and San Sepulcro flanked by two armed dancers, and finally the three Marys.

The armed ones mark the step, the duration and rhythm of the procession.

The clothing, the ritual, the staging, the environment…, the whole set does that this religious holiday has a big resonance and, every year, there are great the persons who come to Esterri to enjoy the holiday and the visual spectacle.
 

Formerly every station was marked by a badge of ceramics, of the XVIIIth century, set in one of the walls of the different streets by those that the procession walks, now only there remain three of the originals, but on an initiative of the current town hall other badges have recovered and they have been placed where they were formerly.

Easter Sunday – “Caramelles”

Choral d'Àneu, goes out to the street and sings the popular songs, the "caramelles". The group of singers stops in front of some balconies of the people and sings a few songs. A group of boys takes a basket tied on top of a long pole and much adorned with tapes, which makes go over up to the balcony of the person being honored who, in correspondence, leaves his donation.

Day 1 - Santa Maria’s Congregation

Spiritual center of the inhabitants of these vales, every first of May celebrates the meeting. It goes over in pilgrimage from of Esterri, where mass is done inside the church of Santa Maria d'Àneu. After the celebration of the Eucharist, there is a popular meal between the neighbors, where the jollification and the good humor is not missing.

Skittles Championship

During the spring Valls d'Àneu celebrates in them the skittles championship. It is played by 9 made wooden skittles normally of birch or pine, of approximately 45 cm. of height. They are pressed hard of the top, with a more wide base to be able to keep back and they made convex of the way, so that when they fall down they could roll.

They are placed in the soil in line of 3, forming a rectangle. The separation between them is one meter (in case of the women) and one meter and a half (in case of the men). The skittles are struck by a wooden ball, the "truc", of a weight that can change between 4 and 8 kg.

In every game 5 players play and it gains the first one that comes to 48 points. When in a throw no skittle throws itself it is said that you have "llaurat" (worked)

Corpus - The neighbors at Esterri d’Àneu

At Esterri, every year they celebrate the "veïnats" (neighbors), evoking the tradition of the “eighth Corpus Christi”. During 8 days the town is decked, every day a "neighborhood". These are names that recall the location, job, personal characteristics: nails, thirty-keys, liars, vains, Barceloneta, richs, little goats, and the Sacred Heart-“La Closa”.

The priest during the Mass, bless the cakes that have led the children of the neighborhood, then shared among the congregation. Each neighborhood prepares some chocolate and games for kids

Day 23 -" Les Falles d’Isil "

Feast declared a “National Interest Feast”. In May the “Fadrins and Fadrines” (single men and women) climb the mountain, cut the black pines and peel them for ease drying, cut them up, and they already have the “fallas”. They are piled up and leave them there until Saint John’s night.

That night, in the middle of the town square is planted the great “falla”, that will be the signal for the “fallaires” to start the download from the Lighthouse. After the download, for almost an hour, the “fallaires” reach the door of the town, where the Fadrins are waiting them with wine, “coca” (bread cake) and a bouquet of flowers. From here they head towards the church of Saint John, where draw a cross on the cemetery door to give tribute to former “fallaires”, exorcise spirits, ask for luck ...

Returned to the village where walking on the streets of the town, once there they throw their great “falla”, and then begin the traditional dances, the dance of “fallaires”,the dance of “bastons” (typical dance of Catalonia), the “Ball Pla” and the Bolangera.

Dansàneu

This is a traditional Catalan dance course that is been done at Esterri d’Àneu for seventeen years, and has a duration of one week. At “nights in the tent”, live music is always present and for closing the course, on Saturday there is a passacaglia dancing throughout the town, and during the night live music for everyone.

Esbaiola’t – Theater Festival for everyone

It’s a summer festival for the whole family full of drama and nature which is performed outdoors, taking advantage of the most attractive places at Esterri d’Àneu. It is held the last weekend of July.

The drama in all its aspects is the most important activity of the festival. The schedule is very varied and is done to be performed outdoors, Street theater, Clowns, circus, puppetry, ... and also perform activities related to the theater world, makeup workshops, masks,..... There are also some activities and games installed throughout the day for the children's distracting while they don’t watch any show.

Climb to Salau Port. First Sunday of August

This meeting of twinning the Port of Salau (2,010 m altitude), where hikers from both sides of the Pyrenees, is the first Sunday in August for two decades.

Due to lack of communications, the two sides, is forced to foot climb to the summit of the Port. The Catalans have it better because a forest trail, suitable for 4x4 up to 45 minutes on foot before the Port. The Occitans, however, have more than two hours and a half away, the French side.

There are speeches of welcome, songs, dances for everyone, anthems, flags, is'acaba with a Rotllana with the song of farewell and a great family picture. The meeting is claimed common culture Catalan-Occitan and cross-border relations, which should relligar the two counties.

Links:
CAOC
sings

Fair Forest and Wood

This fair is the second weekend of September in Valencia Àneu supported Aigüestortes National Park and Sant Maurici, to revitalize the forestry sector and disseminate the various possibilities that allow for sustainable use and management forests. This is why it is especially important al'aprofitament of forest biomass for energy purposes with several firms chip boilers, wood and Pelet, and Pelet producers, forest companies and job consulting. The craft of wood il'aspecte disclosure of the natural forests in the valleys of Àneu take a relief in this show.

The third weekend in October - Fair of Santa Teresa

The third weekend of October is a Esterri the largest cattle fair in the region. Farmers in the region of cattle down the mountain and bring the fair to be sold. Saturday is for the beef sector, where part of the livestock will become part of the auction man race in the Pyrenees, the others are displayed in a morphology of the same race, at the end are rewarded attendees with a tasting veal calf IGP Catalan Pyrenees.

On Sunday, the protagonists are horses from the race-Spanish Pyrenees, like the previous day is a race, a taste of pony bred in the area, and a lot of foals.