Castell

Castellers of Pink Team

A Castell is a human tower traditionally built during festivals in many places in Spain. This tradition originated in the southern part of Catalonia at the end of the 18th century. More specifically in Valls, near the city of Tarragona.
Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellers.

Raquel, a co-worker, invited us to watch the human tower since she's a fan of this event, in Valls, Spain. There were two teams competing, i forgot their team names but the color of the teams were red and pink. Raquel said that the Pink team is the best. And when I saw their performance, it proved her right.

Raquel explained to me how the event goes. She said that each team will have to create four (4) human towers. It will depend on the team on how many levels they will form and how many persons per level. But according to her, it is the tradition that the last tower they will create will be composed of two persons only per level.

Members of the team usually wore white trousers, colored shirt (the team’s color) and a black sash. The sash was wrapped around their waist to support their lower back.

I’m not quite sure how the scoring for each team works. But before they will start giving scores to their performances, the castellers where given a chance to make the foundation of their tower sturdy enough until third level. As the castellers climb up for the fourth level, a special music will be played by a band that uses “gralle” and it will mean that they can no longer climb down to adjust.

The kid was part of the band

The band for Pink Team was practicing before the event started

The castell is considered a success when the desired level was reached already and the last person, who climbed, raised his hand while he was on top and climbed down safely on the other side of the tower and then everyone else will come down as well.

One tower of Red team lose points because they were not able to come down safely. After the last casteller raised his hands, the tower collapsed. I was really shocked but don't worry, no one was injured. Raquel mentioned that Red team has history of doing that.

I was quite amazed by the Pink team. Every tower they made was a success. They made Tres de Nou (3 person by 9 layers), two of Cinc de Nou (5 by 9) and last one, Torre de Vuit (2 by 8). I was scared actually because the last casteller who climbed for each tower was a small child. But i was astonished by how fast they climb up to the top. And when it’s time to dismantle the tower, they all just slide down. They made it look so easy.

I really enjoyed the event. It's a different experience for me.

Logo of Pink team

Video Link:
Pink Team
Red Team (Fall)