Spain travels to regent St (Sept 3rd)

[greytop]

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/content/view/8197/34/

"This is the biggest Spanish cultural event in London in recent years, and all the stops are being pulled out to make it a great day. The event, Un Paseo por España, will take place on Sunday, September 3rd."

So if you can't make it all the way here....

[Marbella]

Just a reminder that this event is on Sunday (http://www.regentstreetonline.com/festival/). There is also a feature on it in today's El Pais in English (http://www.elpais.es/misc/herald/herald.pdf). See you there.

[que]

Good call. Will have to take a wonder.

Thanks for the link. Will have to look out for the suppliment on Saturday in The Daily Telegraph

[Edith]

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/content/view/8197/34/

"This is the biggest Spanish cultural event in London in recent years, and all the stops are being pulled out to make it a great day. The event, Un Paseo por España, will take place on Sunday, September 3rd."

So if you can't make it all the way here....

Cool, wish I could come! Looks like you guys are going to get a lot of rain, though. :(

[que]

Well, i have my suplement from The Daily Telegraph. Looks great!

The only problem is, as i write, i'm awaiting a delivery of a bed frame, which will get delivered today, or failing that, tomorrow.

Crap. I hope it shows up today, or early tomorrow. It doesnt take long for me to get to London so lets hope its gets delivered. Complete pain.

If all goes well, i will join up with my house mate (whos from the Basque Country), and go along to see all the great sights, and of course taste the great food and wine offered. 14 different regions of spain will be represented. Thanks for pointing this out to me!

I will try and take some pictures to post here.

PS. does anyone know where we might be able to watch the basketball world cup final? think it starts about 11AM, so just need to find a place which has sky (Channel UK G2). Would hope somewhere near this festival would be showing it.

[Edith]

The only problem is, as i write, i'm awaiting a delivery of a bed frame, which will get delivered today, or failing that, tomorrow.

Why can't these guys ever give you the exact time, grrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Marbella]

A fabulous event. At times we really were in Spain and not in the middle of the usually traffic choked Regent Street in central London. Spain really did come to Regent Street, and how! I've never experienced a better atmosphere in London.

We had a massive paella, fantastic castells from Catalonia, flamenco, vino, music and so much more. The attitude of the Spaniards running the shows was infectious. I just thought what great ambassadors they were for Spain. There was so much Spanish spoken around us that it was so easy to feel that in fact we were in Spain. We met some lovely people from my wife's home town of Logroño, it was just a terrific event. I'd have to vote for the La Rioja area as the best but in truth the Andaluces just put on the best show by far. It was heaving with people, at times impossible to move. It really was such a happy atmosphere, it was quite moving to be honest, I had a lump in my throat at the generosity of spirit there was around. I was worried that people wouldn't embrace the experience but that was not the case. People just seemed to love the whole thing. When they announced that Spain had won the basketball, a huge cheer went up.

I've got loads of stuff to share but here are a few things to start.

There is a short video clip here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHx0Xg7MlsA)to give you a flavour of the atmosphere. I've got some others that I will upload later.

And I'll add photos like this to the Flickr group.

The balloons handed out at the entrance set the tone:

http://static.flickr.com/81/232902335_b0f3476fee.jpg?v=0

The atmosphere was electric at this castell. People were just amazed by this and there was a huge cheer at the end. I have this on video and I will add it to YouTube soon.

http://static.flickr.com/89/232902340_f6380536ca.jpg?v=0

The policemen couldn't resist trying the bota at the La Rioja stand. Good on them for getting into the spirit of the day. Fantastic!

http://static.flickr.com/92/232902338_336429266e.jpg?v=0

[guapo]

great post, looks like a lot of fun. Kicking myself that I did not go now. The sun is even shining in London today, must be a side effect of all those smiling people :D

My guess is that when everybody gets back to work tomorrow morning the hits on Spanish property web sites will go through the roof....

[Edith]

Great to hear that the event was a success. I just saw some footage of it on TVE too. The weather gods have been very cooperative indeed, which must have been a huge bonus! Wish I could have been there. Nice to see those policemen enjoying themselves, Dutch policemen often join in too during Queen's Day.
Is this Spanish fiesta an annual event in London, or was it the first time?

[Marbella]

great post, looks like a lot of fun. Kicking myself that I did not go now. The sun is even shining in London today, must be a side effect of all those smiling people :D

My guess is that when everybody gets back to work tomorrow morning the hits on Spanish property web sites will go through the roof....

Yes, the weather was fine. I am hoping that this will be a yearly event. My mother-in-law called us from Spain while we were there and said that she had even heard about it on the Spanish radio today. It was a huge event, incredibly popular looking at the thousands who atended.

Paella!

http://static.flickr.com/93/232902343_3badaa13a0.jpg?v=0

[Marbella]

The BBC have covered (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5309838.stm)it too. I forgot to mention the beaches!:)

[Ben]

Great photos, what an event! I'm surprised some health and safety exec wasn't on hand to stop the tower going up! Thank goodness it was sunny. The shot of the policeman is fantastic, kudos to the bobby in question!

[que]

Yes, it was good.

And as for the human tower, all i can say is thank god the 'Health and Safety' police did not spoil it, as is all too common these days, as you well know Ben.

[Marbella]

Thanks! Let me know what you think of this second video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrckaDhU4jQ). The format isn't as good on YouTube as it was when it came off the camera but it will give you a taster.

I just caught the final climb at the end of a castell and the dismantling. No health and safety issues and I'm not sure if you will get from the audio the cheer that they received from the crowd:).

[Marina]

Hi Marbella, lovely pics!!!
All of the pics are great, I love the one of the big paellera, however I was shoked to see the an English policeman drinking!!! And from a bota!!!
I still can't believe it!!!

[Valenciano]

I wonder if the man making the paella is from Valencia.
At least the rice name fallera signifies valencian culture.
If I were In London I would be there for sure, but im in the land of the rising sun now. In a way I can't complain.

[Marbella]

Hi Marbella, lovely pics!!!
All of the pics are great, I love the one of the big paellera, however I was shoked to see the an English policeman drinking!!! And from a bota!!!
I still can't believe it!!!

Thanks Marina! I think the 2 bobbies summed up the spirit of the day. It was magically authentic.

Here is the best of the rest and I'm refusing to speak English today so...

Dos Riojanas, guapas y simpáticas:

http://static.flickr.com/79/233592030_afe2258c1c.jpg?v=0

Los Madrileños tenían un bar genial con buen vino y cosas para picar. Y esta Madrileña representa los museos de Madrid. ¿Quién sabe el nombre de esta obra de arte?

http://static.flickr.com/90/233592039_c20e61673d.jpg?v=0

Y esta turista dibujando a las flamencas en la caseta Andaluza:

http://static.flickr.com/87/233592032_6bd28deb33.jpg?v=0

[greytop]

Thanks Marbella - great photos and the videos capture the atmosphere. I suspect they might just do it again! The BBC report says this was no. 7.

[Brian]

¿Quién sabe el nombre de esta obra de arte?

http://static.flickr.com/90/233592039_c20e61673d.jpg?v=0



La maja vestida por Goya. Está en el Prado, ¿no?

[Edith]

Me gusta la foto de las dos chicas riojanas. :)

[Marbella]

¡Muchisimas gracias greytop!

Muy bien Brian:). Menos mal que no la pusieron de La Maja Desnuda.