Berga prepares to light the touchpaper on the Patum

It will soon be time for one of Catalonia's most popular local summer festivals, the famous Patum, which takes place every year in Berga, the capital of Berguedà county.

This year's Patum de Berga will take place from June 19 to 23, in a raucous and lively celebration involving traditional dances, drumming, fancy dress, and lots of fireworks.

Considered a Traditional Festival of National Interest, the Patum was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.

As might be expected at a festival that attracts thousands of people, alcohol plays a major role, and so this year the organizers are making efforts to encourage responsible drinking.

Among the new measures to curb any excesses, the organizers are subsidising non-alcoholic cocktails, as well as providing 15,000 bottles of water for free at bars.

Medieval origins

While coinciding with Corpus Christi, the Patum's origins go back to pre-Christian summer solstice celebrations, with some of its more bizarre elements added during the Middle Ages.

An example is the festival's climax, the 'Plens', which sees firework-wielding 'devils' dancing to the rhythm of drum music and turning Berga's main square into a vision of hell.

The festival features a number of mythical characters performing in public, including the Turcs i Cavallets (Turks and Little Knights) or the Nans Vells (The Old Dwarfs).

In fact, this year the latter have new costumes whose design has been based on historical research into the 18th-century Miquelets militia and the War of the Spanish Succession.

Moving with the times, this year's Patum also has a new mobile app providing information about the celebration for locals and visitors that will become available from June 4.