WOMAD Caceres 2009

May here in Caceres is curious...2 rather big events happen that couldn't be more dissimilar.



The first is the adoration of the local virgin which is carried down from its mountain refuge in late April and then is visited everyday by a certain sector of the population to see the what colour dress it is wearing (it's changed daily). Local lore has it that if you guess the colour, your wishes are granted. This all culminates with the 'besa manto', where the locals more or less patiently queue to kiss the hem of its dress and the following day hefty young lads brute the young lass (doll) back up the mountain on their shoulders amidst great fanfare.



The second big event, admittedly with fewer virgins, usually takes place the second weekend of May. The WOMAD festival (World of Music and Dance) invades this normally conservative provincial capital with its world beats. For almost 20 years, this festival has been celebrated in different places around the city and has now been moved back to various places around the Old Town, with the bigger names playing in the Main Square.

Eliades Ochoa
Uploaded by Sirelazik

This year's the line up looks great, with the above embedded performers all scheduled to play. To some people's chagrin, the local police are even threatening to crack down on the infamous 'botellon' that usually takes place, where people sat around getting pissed with their backs even turned to the performers. It will be interesting to see how it turns out this year.

Oh, and did I forget to mention...it's all FREE!