towers

Saint Felix celebrations sees Catalonia's top four tower-building ‘colles’ attempt daring ‘castells’

Vilafranca del Penedès hosts one of the season’s top events with four of the best groups

The long-standing cultural tradition recognized by UNESCO is a spectacular sight in town squares all over the country

Third volume of 'castellers' encyclopedia presented in Barcelona, with remaining instalments set to be completed by 2020

Records and barriers (but no people) tumbled in the exceptional effort this weekend to mark International Women's Day

The very best examples of the Catalan tradition of building 'castells' is on show this weekend in Tarragona

Catalonia’s main ‘castells’ contest to be held in Tarragona this weekend

From fire running 'correfocs' to afrobeat, this year's Barcelona-wide festival has something for everyone

Castellers pull out of ad to help children with cancer after production company objects to their yellow shirts

The Tarragona event in October features traditional Catalan human towers

Catalan 'castellers' build seven level towers during the Smithsonian Folk Festival

Groups build nine-level high 'castells' during traditional festival in southern Catalonia

Four teams competed against each other to build the highest and biggest human towers in one of the most important castells festivals: Sant Fèlix

Impressive aerial shots showing the riot of colour on display at the 26^th edition of the Castells Competition in Tarragona, southern Catalonia, have travelled around the world. Media outlets such as the BBC, Russia Today and The Los Angeles Times published videos, pictures and articles on the contest. Catalonia’s ‘human tower’ competition, ‘Concurs de Castells’, took place at Tarraco Arena Place, an old bullring, attracting 20,000 spectators and 32 teams. The biennial event saw one group, ‘Els castellers de Vilafranca’, secure its eighth title on the trot. However, one of the most applauded performances was that of the Chinese team ‘Els Xiquets de Hangzhou’, the first ever international team to compete at the contest. Around 380 professionals from 120 different media outlets covered the event on Saturday and Sunday. 

More than 120 media outlets will cover the 26th edition of the Castells Competition, taking place this weekend at the Tàrraco Arena Place, an old bullring located in Tarragona, southern Catalonia. This year’s edition will become an international window for Catalan culture as 380 journalists from China, Australia, United Kingdom, America and all around the globe have been accredited and will witness the event. 32 human tower groups (‘colles’) will perform, one of them from China: the Children of Hangzhou. Tarragona’s Mayor, Josep Fèlix Ballesteros, stated that this international media presence proves that the impact of castells “goes beyond our territory and is global”. More than 25,000 people will attend the competition this weekend, in an edition that is expected to be the most international and historic one, due to the high level of the human tower groups.