One more year, and it has been 35 since its declaration as a Festival of National Tourist Interest in 1989, the “Virxe da Barca” Festival brought together thousands of devotees at the Sanctuary of “Nuestra Señora da Barca” in Muxía.
The pilgrims, who came from all the towns of the Costa da Morte but also from other parts of Galicia, Spain and even from numerous foreign countries, packed the Muxiá Sanctuary from early in the morning to attend the first liturgies, which were held at 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 hours.
Thousands of people also came to the vicinity of the sanctuary to comply with one of the most deeply-rooted traditions: trying to move the “pedra de abalar”, passing nine times under the “pedra dos cadrís” (stone of the kidneys) – to which healing properties for kidney and back diseases are attributed – or putting their head into the “pedra da cabeza” (stone of the head).
The solemn mass, which began after 1:00 p.m., was led by Manuel Jesús Formoso, canon of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Next to him was Daniel Turnes, parish priest of Muxía since May of this year, who before the conclusion of the liturgy took the floor to “thank from the bottom of my heart all the people who gave their best” to make his first Barca festival possible.
During the ceremony, which featured the spectacular singing voices of the Polyphonic Choir of Muxía, there were also words in memory of Manuel Piñeiro Lema, a priest of Muxía for the last forty years who died this Friday. After asking the faithful for a prayer in his memory, the current priest of Muxía announced his objectives included sealing and painting the Sanctuary and repairing the main altarpiece, “just as Don Manuel would have wanted.”
After the outdoor mass, the emblematic procession began, in which a crowd of devotees accompanied the “Virxe da Barca” image from the sanctuary to the port of Muxía. This location was also the venue of another of the great attractions of the day: the largest firecrackers display in all of Galicia.
At the signal of the parish priest, who communicated by telephone with those responsible for the pyrotechnics, the launching of the “palenque” fireworks in honour of Our Lady began. An amazing pyrotechnic show of approximately ten minutes in length in which a huge firecracker almost a kilometre and a half long was burned.
The attendees, who fervently enjoyed the noise, chanted cheers to their patron saint and, amid applause, saw her leave again for the streets of Muxía on her way to the parish church. There the image will rest until tomorrow, Monday, from where it will depart at 12:30 p.m. in the morning to head back to its sanctuary.
The festivities of Barca Festive continue after the religious acts with an extensive festive program
After depositing the image of Our Lady in the parish church, the party will continue in Muxía throughout the day with a macro vermouth session featuring the Escaparate and Alcazar orchestras and, at night, with a large open-air dance that will last until almost dawn with the performances of Los Satélites, Escaparate, Alcazar and O tren da Unha.
The festivities, declared to be of National Tourist Interest and which this year have the support of the Xunta de Galicia, will conclude tomorrow Monday with the procession from the parish church to the sanctuary, and with a great night celebration led by the new Origen orchestra and M-3 Show.