Throughout the centuries Berga has preserved jealously its authentic history as the Patum. Every year at the Sant Pere Square. The Patum of Berga’s festival is held during the week of Corpus Christi, late May, and late June. It will be an extraordinary meeting of the Municipal Council, the arrival of a large drum known as the Tabal, and the Quatre Fuets to announce the festivities. Several celebrations will occur over the next few days, including parades, a ceremonial patum, children's patums, and full patums.
Taba (the tambourine), Cavallets (paper mâché horses), Maces (demons with whips and maces), Guites (mule dragons), the eagle, giant-headed dwarves, Plens (fire demons), and giants dressed as Saracens all join forces in the Tirabol, the final dance, and perform acrobatic tricks and light fireworks for the joyous audience.
The Patum de Berga festival, or simply La Patum, is celebrated in the Catalan city of Berga (Barcelona). It consists of a series of ball dances by town people dressed as mystical and symbolic figures. A band also performs during the festival. There is an abundance of fire and pyrotechnics in the balls, adding to their solemnity.
Despite the fact that most of the party attendees are adults, no children are neglected in Berga, and while also attending "Patum the greatest", children make their own Patum.
The origin of the phenomenon can be traced back to the parents' desire to play Patum and their ability to build elements making it possible to do so. Participation was thus increasing until at some point it was evident in their participation in the Corpus party on Friday.
As children are represented by the child patum, the experience and feel of their participation in the party have already begun.
Despite its richness and diversity, the Patum of Berga stands out from the other festivals that have come down from the Middle Ages because of its preserved elements of profane and religious aspects, the preservation of its medieval street theatre, and the ritual component. It is important to take care that the preservation of the Patum does not suffer from strong urban and tourism development, which could decrease its value.
La Patum is a festival that goes back to pre-Christian celebrations of the Summer Solstice. Later on, it was recycled and given new symbolism by the Catholic Church in relation to Corpus celebrations. The earliest preserved reference to them is in the Berga literature of May 20, 1454.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/patum-of-berga-00156) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patum_de_Berga) (https://www.catalunya.com/festivities-of-the-patum-in-berga-8-1-91?language=en) (https://www.femturisme.cat/en/routes/patum-in-berga) (https://berguedaturisme.com/en/blog-la-patum-de-berga)