Colors of Santander - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Tourists planning a visit to the city of Santander should take into consideration several ethnic features which will sufficiently ease the vacation and add comfort to the time spent on the resort. Local folks are considered to be the most shouting nation in the world. Loud speaking in public is considered to be a norm among local residents and will not be interpreted as ill breeding. Sometimes foreign guests interpret this feature of local people as aggression and a token of unfriendly temper that is quite misleading.

Local folks are rather friendly and welcoming and the main feature of character of the city residents is still emotionality. They can ardently debate vital problems and talk about the weather in the same tone at the same time. Local residents are deprived of prejudice and superstitions and are rather interesting folks to talk to. The only themes which are not recommended to touch upon during a discussion are political life and religion. Local residents are eager helpers and are always ready to assist foreigners and show way to landmarks and sites as well as explain local rules and laws.

One of the annual events attracting many tourists to the city is the Santander International Festival. The holiday takes place in August and lasts for more than three weeks. Plenty of concerts, theatric performances and exciting shows take place in the Palacio de Festivales. Other numerous events of the festival are held open air. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

The festival will be of great interest for classic music admirers and for genuine connoisseurs of ballet. Within the festival tourists will witness various choral singing and solo performances as well as famous singers’ shows. The festival is always visited by globally known singers and musicians as well as by famous theatrical actors. The Palacio de Festivales is considered to be an event of global scale. The city of Santander has been an established place for holding of the festival since 1948. Local residents take the preparation of the festival and events held within the festival rather responsibly. They are proud of the rich cultural life of the city.

Considering favorite holidays and celebrations of local folks a specific tradition of a birthday celebration should be taken in focus. Commonly a birthday is celebrated twice a year – the first celebration is of a true birthday of a person and another one is a celebration of a saint’s day. It should be noted that the tradition of a double celebration of birthday has been preserved just in few countries. The birthday is one of the most favorite and most waited holidays among local folks.

The Spanish city Santander is the venue for a lovely art festival. We are talking about the Artesande Festival which lasts the entire hot month of July. Summertime, as is believed in the city, is probably the best time to get acquainted with the art. Festival visitors, coming here for the first time, will have this opinion too. At this time, in the city’s main streets and cultural sites (museums, galleries, and exhibition complexes), exhibitions of contemporary art, including paintings and sculptures by local artists are being launched. The main venue is the Palacio de Festivales.

The end of hot July is considered the time of music – in the city of Santander is held a music event with the same name, which is dedicated to all its genres, from indie rock to electronic music. This is why the celebration is popular among anyone who wishes to visit it – so that everyone can find music to their liking. Visitors are entertained not just by the musicians who come from Spain, as many people come to the big port city for this purpose. The place chosen for the event is more than suitable – it is the already mentioned Palacio de Festivales complex where you can listen to music for three days. It is also chosen because from here opens up magnificent views of the beautiful beach Playa de la Magdalena.

At the same time, that is, you can witness another remarkable event in the city at the end of July. We are talking about the event Concurso Internacional de Piano Ciudad de Santander, one of Santander’s oldest festivals. All pianists around the world, both those who have made “a name” for themselves in the world of classical music and those who are yet to make their way, dream of getting there because of its high popularity. Invitation to the festival means world recognition in the world of symphonic music. You can listen to both orchestras and smaller groups or solo performers here. The venue for the event is still the same beautiful Palacio de Festivales’ hall.

The end of August is the traditional time of commencement of Mercado Medieval fair, where you can buy unique products. At the beginning of July, is held the interesting Los Baños de Ola festival, famous for its colorful fireworks, which are launched near the gardens of Jardines de Piquío. The fireworks seem to mark the beginning of the summer season. In addition, the event includes concerts dedicated to art deco dancing (the venue for the festival is Palacio de Festivales) and competition of the so-called “express painting” in the city’s main streets.