Celebrations for the Festival of the Standard in Palma. | M.A. CAÑELLAS
Since 2017, December 31 has been Mallorca Day.
The date was changed from September 12, which marked the day in 1276 when Jaume II swore the charter of privileges and franchises of the Kingdom of Mallorca, to the day in 1229 when Madina Mayurqa (Palma) was taken by his father, Jaume I. With the change of government at this year's elections, there's talk of reverting to September 12. Hey ho.
While Mallorca Day is a political moveable feast, the Festival of the Standard isn't. The standard in question is Jaume I's, and the festival retains some sense of ritual from centuries past.
Its most 'modern' element is less than one hundred years old. Pere d'Alcàntara Penya's poem 'Sa Colcada' (The Cavalcade), which tells how the festival once used to be, was first recited in 1935. It was to be thirty more years before it reappeared, since when it has come to be interpreted in dance and song.
The Mallorca School of Music and Dance and Miquela Lladó of Música Nostra offer their representation of the poem and therefore of the old festival.
Dates and location:
- 31/12/2023 at at Plaça de Cort - Palma Finalizado
Schedule:
10am (Raising of the standard); 12 noon (Sa Colcada)