L'aplec Del Caragol

Pol Esteban ·3r ESO-C

L’APLEC DEL CARAGOL

The Aplec del Caragol (Snail Jamboree) at the end of the month draws a line under the season with the most concentrated festive programme of the year. Declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest and a National Festival of Traditional Interest, it is the festival that brings out the biggest crowds in the city and one of the largest leisure/culinary celebrations in Catalonia.

For three days, the Camps Elisis host 12,000 people from Lleida organised into about a hundred clubs who, on their respective sites, centre their celebration on the consumption of 12 tonnes of snails. Visitors can access a refreshment area set up on the site, where various types of menu are offered, together with the opportunity to taste different types of snails at reasonable prices.

Original competitions such as snail races, or more traditional ones such as tug-of-war, and the constant presence of brass bands, give a cheerful atmosphere that spreads throughout the city; thousands of curious visitors from a wide variety of places come to the event. The parade by the clubs on the last day of the festival is very colourful. During the previous week, the clubs organise various cultural activities.

Some companies have sponsored the Aplec del Caragol.