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San Antoni and San Sebastian

These two saints take pride of place in the January Festival Calendar.

During mid January, for the Festival of San Antoni, villages like Sa Pobla, Manacor and Artá prepare spectacular events where bonfires (foguerons) and demons (dimonis) fill up the villages providing an unforgettable experience to the crowd. 
The following week, on January 20th, is the evening of San Sebastian, the patron saint of Palma. A huge fire-breathing dragon “Drac de na Coca” appears with a parade of drummers (Batucadas) on the Plaça Cort. Together they form a procession to the Plaça Major where the Drac de na Coca lights the fire which signals the start of the celebrations.
Giant figures (Gegants) and huge heads (Capgrossos) parade to the sound of the Xeremiers ( similar to bagpipers )through the streets of Palma with drummers and dancers. 
There is music in all the plazas across the city, families, friends and visitors head out to mix and mingle on the fiesta of Sant Sebastià, armed with their evening picnics of drinks and butifarra (sausages) to cook on the communal barbecues you’ll find lining the streets.
And then of course there are the Correfocs, where the locals dress up as demons and devils and run amongst the crowd setting off fireworks and pyrotechnics. The Correfocs are especially impressive in the Old Town where narrow streets cause unusual echoes.
Sant Sebastià is revered in Palma as the saint who saved the city from the plague. When a bone from his arm came to Palma in 1524, it was thought to have brought an end to the plague that had engulfed the city. 
The origin of the the fire-wielding demons and devils who run through the streets to ‘burn the city’, is thought to come from chasing the plague out of Palma. The night ends with a huge fireworks display outside the cathedral to mark the end of the celebrations. 

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