73rd Colles de Sardana Esportiva competition. Cobla La Principal del Llobregat sardana orchestra.

73rd Colles de Sardana Esportiva competition. Cobla La Principal del Llobregat sardana orchestra.

 The big day during the city's biggest festival features one of the oldest and most important traditional events of all, the Colles de Sardana Esportiva competition, which has been organised by the Federation of Barcelona Sardana Dance Groups for the last 73 years. The federation is an organisation made up of sardana dance groups from the different districts and neighbourhoods within the city. These are groups that bring together young (and not quite so young) boys and girls who travel around Catalonia to compete in sardana competitions and events.

The one organised for La Mercè is open to groups from outside the Catalan capital, all of them accompanied, as always, by the Cobla La Principal del Llobregat sardana orchestra. Founded in Cornellà de Llobregat in 1929, the orchestra was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi in 2004, the year that marked its 75th anniversary.

The most important groups in the country take part in the competition, and the winner receives a figure representing the Àliga de Barcelona. However, if the same group wins two or three years in a row, they're entitled to the grand prize: a miniature reproduction of the Gegants de la Ciutat. The Colles de Sardana Esportiva competition is a brilliant spectacle!