The Esbart Sant Martí de Barcelona once again opens the doors of its popular culture festival with the third edition of Esbarteix-te, which will be held this Saturday, June 13, at Canonge Rodó square and the Centre Parroquial in Clot. A day designed to enjoy with family and friends, with which the entity wants to make itself known and, at the same time, build community.
"The idea arose from wanting to do something for the neighborhood, both for members and for the people of Clot," explains Noelia Barro, a member of the Esbart's board and head of the entity's associative area. "We perform, but usually they go outside or to theaters. We wanted something more accessible to everyone, for people to get to know us in a more playful and participatory way, not just to come and sit and watch."
The festival will kick off at 10:30 a.m. with the Play Space, a time for board games for all ages, energized by Martillo de Clot and Jocs de Taula Clot, with workshops, children's games, and face painting for the little ones. At 12 p.m. it will be the turn of the Musical Vermouth, with samples of popular culture by the Ball de Bastons del Clot, the Diables del Clot, the Gegants del Clot, the Esbart Sant Jordi, and the Esbart Sant Martí itself.
Midday will be reserved for the Popular Lunch, at 2 p.m., with grilled meat, drinks, and dessert, at €12 for members and €15 for non-members, with reservation and prior payment to esbartsantmartiben@gmail.com. In the afternoon, at 5 p.m., the Participatory Dance Evening will arrive, with performances and workshops open to everyone, and the day will close at 7:30 p.m. with a concert by the cover band Ground Kids, with bar service at popular prices.
Esbarteix-te has grown edition after edition. If the first was a morning of activities with a lunch reserved for members, the second already included the participation of the Diables, the Bastons, and the Gegants of the neighborhood. This year, the concert is added, and the festival is fully open to the neighborhood. "Last year, at lunch, we were over a hundred people, and the idea is to keep adding," says Barro, who hopes the concert will also attract a younger audience.
For the entity, the festival is also a challenge. "The world of esbarts is not as well known as that of castellers, bastoners, or diables. It's a challenge to make this part of popular culture known in a playful way, but without ceasing to show who we are," reflects Barro. "We are used to performing, for people to buy a ticket and see us from their seat. Now we want to get off the stage and for people to get to know us and participate in what we do."
Behind the organization there are about thirty people, especially the entity's dance troupe, as well as families who lend a hand. For now, Esbarteix-te invites neighborhood entities, but Esbart does not rule out growing: "We are not closed off. The idea is to grow and, in the future, to be able to bring groups from other areas of the city or from outside," concludes Barro. A way, in short, to continue building community through popular culture.
