Simpsons will be the stars of St Sebastian opening parade

Joan Collins THE celebrations for the St Sebastian 2006 fiesta in Palma will start on Saturday with a parade by street performers based on The Simpsons. The parade will start in the Plaza España and go through Calle San Miguel, Plaza Mayor, Calle Colom and Plaza de Cort. However, at the same time another parade will start from La Rambla with the slogan “yes to popular culture”. The latter parade is means of protest organised by the Balearic Cultural Organisation (OCB) and other cultural associations from the whole of Majorca. They are protesting because they feal the city council is ignoring people who want to keep popular traditional culture alive. Bartomeu Marti, the spokesman for the OCB, said that there were few opportunities to express this during the year but one of them is the celebrations for the patron saint of Palma, St Sebastian. He was accompanied by three representatives of the associations which are participating in the protest parade, Aina Fuster from a school of dance, Miquel Ferretjans from the cultural association “Sa Granera”, and Antoni Roig a member of the folk group Al-Mayurqa. While the official parade is passing through the streets, the protest parade will start from La Rambla and end in the Plaza de España. The two parades will not meet, apparently, at any time along their routes. The parade is just one of the highlights of the festivities which include free concerts in the main squares (see graphic) on January 19 and a gala at the Casino which will be shown on television.