El Arraigo de la Fiesta

en  la Localidad

Citizen involvement in the festival is described below, highlighting the involvement of the Vilaboa Town Council in its continuity, by achieving its naming as Festival of Tourist Interest in Galicia in 1999, and through the funding of the the Cobres Cultural Association and part of the festival expenses.

Cobres Cultural Association – Entroido Board

The Cobres Cultural Association,

was created in 1990, with the organising of the carnival celebrations as one of its goals.

The Entroido Board is constituted by members of the Cobres Cultural Association, which throughout the year is responsible for keeping the tradition alive by engaging teachers, conducting rehearsals, researching the history of the Entroido, recovering lost traditions, and introducing new variants to update the celebration and ensure that it lasts over time. They coordinate performances in other locations that are then invited to participate in the Entroido de Cobres to make it known beyond the municipality of Vilaboa, and thus be able to attract tourists to the Entroido de Cobres. Since 2017, they organize the Encontro de Entroidos (meeting of traditional carnival groups from the Iberian Peninsula) in the summer (second weekend of July) to also attract people from other places to the municipality, to share their own traditions and to learn about ours.

The board also includes other people who help in the organisation of the Entroido games, finding the dancers and musicians, making arrangements for the procession, etc.

The neighbourhood

The procession goes through the parishes in search of donations, so it is the neighbours of Cobres who bear part of the expenses.

The dancers’ relatives [1]

The relatives of the madamas, galáns and other dancers are particularly important due to the work they have to do before and during the Entroido, creating the costumes, dressing the dancers, and repairing any damage that might occur every day during the Entroido de Cobres. Some Cobres neighbours teach others the complexities of making the costumes, and, above all, a few individuals know how to make the hats, the symbol par excellence of the Entroido de Cobres.

Collaboration with other bodies

The Communities of Montes de San Adrián and Santa Cristina de Cobres collaborate with the Entroido de Cobres by lending their facilities for rest periods and meals during the tours.

The municipal schools, such as the Vilaboa CRA and the Riomaior Plurilingual CEP take active part in the transmission of the tradition: in recent years, they have collaborated in the decoration of the cock that is burnt at the end of the Corrida do Galo[2] .

The Cobres Football School[3] collaborates by displaying the silhouettes of an Entroido madama and galante on its uniform. Its board collaborates in the sale of drinks during the four Entroido night parties.

Pablo Castro[4], a Vilaboa rally driver, displays an Entroido de Cobres sticker on his car.

[1] Talk (in Galician) on the Entroido costumes

[2] Decorated cock for Shrove Tuesday 2024

[3] Photographs of the shirt in the club’s SM.

[4] Photographs of Pablo Castro’s car.

 

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