Gala of the LII National Festival of Exaltation of Botillo, an apology for the people of Bembibre
The Gala of the LII National Festival of Exaltation of the Botillo de Bembibre became a permanent apology of our villages and districts. Based on the theme of the Cultural Week and thread of the event, which were the Neighborhood Councils of the Municipality, the own maintainer, journalist and writer Sonsoles Ónega made a nod to the importance of living in small towns like any of those that are part of Bembibre. Soraya Arnelas also ended her song “Mi mundo sin ti” with a very clear invitation: “For me you can go to the village”.
This year the Festival counted this year with a high level of a high level of speaker. Both for his personal and professional facet as for the quality of the speech in which nothing was missing: a tribute to Bembibre (so was his introduction), its people, its professional sectors, miners and women, among many others. With the proposal to “sacralize” our sausage or the request for the mayoress, Silvia Cao, to promote a Botillo Pact and that no one is left uninvited, from Sanchez, Yolanda Diaz, Puigdemont, and even Donald Trump or Putin. She might even send a botillo to the Vatican to help the Pope with his health problems.
With Sonsoles Ónega, the daughter of the man who was the maintainer in 1995, 30 years ago, arrives in Bembibre.
The presence and importance of the pedanías was present throughout the Gala, but Belén Martín, Councilor for Culture, Commerce, Tourism and Festivities, presented a speech with a clear defense of life in the village, without forgetting any of them or the immeasurable work carried out by the pedáneos, other exceptional protagonists of this Festival.
Also Sonsoles Ónega, who asked people “not to let yourselves be seduced by the cities, where the epidemic of our century lives: loneliness”.
And, in an event of this magnitude, the mayoress, Silvia Cao, did not forget to remember the importance of such a significant date for what it means for small municipalities. The event “that nobody wants to miss” and that not only consists of the act and the tasting of the botillo, but is complemented with the cultural week, with the Agroalimentary Fair or with the Days of Pinchos del Botillo.
Another of the protagonists, in a gala with a clear female presence, the singer Soraya Arnelas made a review of her most representative songs. Songs that the public knew accompanying her in the interpretation, which ended with a medley of songs by other artists of international relevance that got the audience moving.
Her mythical song “Mi mundo sin ti” (My world without you) was not missing. The artist began by asking for a small change in one part of the song, when she says “por mí te puedes ir al cuerno” for a “por mí te puedes ir al pueblo…”.
At the event, mention was made of the winner of the literary contest, who is the ponferradina Belén Ovalle, present at the event. As well as in the previous reception at the City Hall, the Botillo Festival and the Casa de León in Asturias, based in Gijón, signed the twinning protocol that will include the promotion of activities of both institutions. The president of the Casa de León, José María Fernández Chimeno, was also present.
The gala was presented by the Bierzo communicators Javier Domingos and Vanessa Silván.
At the end, more than 1,500 attendees tasted the sausage in another of the most representative moments of the National Festival of Exaltation of the Botillo. To end the party, the tent that is part of the enclosure put the musical note with a party in style and the performances of the orchestras Grupo Beatriz and Assia.
Copyright: All photos are property of the City Council of Bembibre. Their diffusion without previous authorization is forbidden, being obligatory requirement the identification of their author Daniel Quiterio.
