We strongly desire that 'Sant Jordi, festival of the book and the rose' be declared Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
A year ago, the Saint George's Day was able to agree with the Government, the Generalitat and the City Council of Barcelona to jointly present candidacy of 'the festival of the book and the rose' as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
So there is nothing that literature, that words, that letters cannot achieve. Many things have happened since then, but what remains of all that, what gives us hope, are precisely all those things that reading encourages: dialogue, empathy, mental health... and, ultimately, freedom.
That is why we must never stop celebrating this day, the day when they give a flower and they give a book – or vice versa, or two to one, or a bouquet of 12, or whatever each one prefers (remember that thanks to reading we are freer) –.
What's more, we have to make it known to the rest of the world so that they know that the April 23, UNESCO International Book and Copyright Day , in Catalonia there is a festive day – even though this year it falls on a working Monday – in which, with hundreds of plans and activities, the legend of the brave knight Sant Jordi is remembered and commemorated, who stuck his spear into a terrifying dragon from whose blood sprouted a bush of red roses.
ACTIVITIES ON AN INTERNATIONAL SCALE
One of the actions planned for promote outside our borders the day of Sant Jordi is the international shop window contest promoted by the Catalan Tourism Agency and the Guild of Booksellers.
An initiative that urges bookshops from anywhere in the world to decorate their windows with motifs related to the Catalan festival so that their customers can take photos of them, post them on Instagram and, through a vote, choose the best one, who will win a trip to Catalonia.
Such is the interest that Sant Jordi's day arouses abroad - in the purest style of Irish Saint Patrick - that a group of volunteers, booksellers, Catalan centers abroad and other groups have devised more than a hundred activities (outside Catalonia) under the name #BooksAndRoses (web, hashtag, social networks) that can be consulted on the website booksandroses.cat.
The #BooksAndRoses campaign collects the 150 international events organized on the occasion of Sant Jordi.
LOCAL ACTIVITIES
There are many activities that are added to the already traditional Literary Dialogues (20 and 21 in the Disseny Hub Barcelona Auditorium), the Proclamation of reading (which was given by the writer Almudena Grandes), the purchase of solidarity roses in the Barcelona City Council (other non-combat entities, such as Save the mama, will do so at their own headquarters) and the intense route that runs between the stalls from Paseo de Gràcia, Rambla de Catalunya and La Rambla –This year, to avoid crowds, two other crosswalks have been designed: one in Consell de Cent and another in Diagonal–. (Check the entire official program of the City Council here).
This is the case of the Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival ( BCN FILM FEST ), "Where the movie is as good as the book", since it proposes a selection of international titles related to literature and history, in which adaptations of literary works or works with a historical or biographical background stand out (between April 20 and 27, at the Verdi cinemas in Barcelona: €6 , the general price for afternoon and evening passes and a subscription of €30 for 8 tickets).
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society –whose screening at the festival will coincide with its world premiere in the United Kingdom– will be in charge of opening the BCN FILM FEST, which this year is loaded with (both in the official section and out of competition) of films as interesting as Maria by Callas, by Tom Volf, A Taxi Driver. The Heroes of Gwangju, by Jang Hoon, or Borg / McEnroe, in which Janus Metz recalls that legendary 1980 Wimbledon final between two of the icons/rivals of the tennis world.
Borg and McEnroe, at Wimbledon 1980, or what is the same, Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf in the film 'Borg / McEnroe'.
Concerts, book and record signings and food stalls will gather at the Old Estrella Damm Factory (Rosselló 515) to the privileged ones who manage to be part of the limited capacity of Sant Jordi Musical, the best –and free– plan for April 23 (from 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.). I'm not saying anything, but in the Facebook event link there are already 14,472 interested, of which 1,333 have confirmed attendance.
A total of 25 performances (carried out on four stages), including names such as Buhos, La Iaia, Quimi Portet, El Petit de Cal Eril or Núria Graham. In addition, as reported by the organization, many of the participating artists will sign records during the day: Els Amics de les Arts, Judith Neddermann, La Pegatina and Santi Balmes (Love of Lesbian) ...
Sant Jordi Musical will be held in the old Estrella Damm brewery.
ENJOYMENT PLANS
The Sant Jordi Day celebrations also reach the kitchen and the table. In the sophisticated Oria restaurant, the chef Martín Berasategui has devised a special menu for the 23rd consisting of an appetizer in the form of a low-temperature scallop, seaweed stock and crispy red prawn, a second course to choose between roasted hake, liquid bonbon of dashi broth and white chocolate air or terrine of suckling lamb in its juice, endive and apple with noisette butter, asparagus tartar and mushroom toast and an Earl Gray dessert with almonds, orange and cava crystals.
The thematic point will be provided by the traditional Sant Jordi bread prepared by the hotel itself (remember that the restaurant is part of the lobby of the Monument Barcelona hotel) and the suggestive and colorful Chocolates de rosa (lunch or dinner: €59).
Pink chocolates at the Oria de Martín Berasategui restaurant.
Another gastronomic proposal, this time ecological, is that of the Timesburg hamburger chain, which under the slogan "A book, a rose... and a hamburger" aims to join the cultural tradition of April 23 with a hamburger called Special Sant Jordi: 100% organic meat between crystal bread, beet and house mayonnaise, arugula, red and yellow cherry tomatoes –emulating senyera–, oregano oil, raspberries and goat cheese.
On the other hand, the Beta publishing house, in addition to the usual book signing by its outstanding authors (at Alibri Llibreria: stand at 20 Rambla Catalunya, at Pebre Negre Llibreria: Carrer del Clot, 41 and the signing point Consell de Cent 304), will open the doors of the Zwilling kitchenware store on Diagonal to offer a special gastronomic program, in which several chefs will interpret various recipes based on the main titles of the publisher, specializing in health, lifestyle and wellness.
Sant Jordi Special Burger, in Timesburg.
Pizza from the book Veggie Pizzas from Beta publishing house.