The Saballuts, Sabadell's castellers group, will represent the city at the 38th Aplec Internacional d'Adifolk in Stockholm from 14 to 16 August. Their first appearance at the event puts Sabadell's local human-tower tradition before an international audience alongside groups from Catalonia, the Valencian Community and Sweden.

For Sabadell residents, the trip is a public presentation of a city-based cultural association abroad, with the group carrying the name of Sabadell at an event that Adifolk, the Association for the Dissemination of Folklore, uses to promote Catalan popular culture internationally.

“It is the first time we have been invited to this festival. We are very happy to have been accredited and invited to such an important festival in Sweden and Stockholm, and very proud, as always, to take Sabadell abroad and show the custom of our country.”Nacho Rodríguez, president of the Saballuts

42 groups will perform across Stockholm

The Aplec will bring together 42 groups and around 1,200 performers, according to event information published by participating organisations. The programme is part of Stockholm's Kulturfestivalen, an annual five-day outdoor cultural festival with free events.

The Saballuts will join Castellers d'Estocolm, the hosts, and Bordegassos de Vilanova for a casteller day. Castellers form human towers, known in Catalan as castells.

  • An opening show involving all participating groups.
  • A street procession and a festa major, or traditional town-festival, show including a night of fire.
  • A casteller day featuring three human-tower groups.
  • A cobla concert, played by a traditional Catalan ensemble, and choral singing at Stockholm's Finnish Church.

The wider programme includes giants and big-head figures, sardana dancing, stick dances, choirs, festive animal figures, fire groups and falcons, a Catalan human-pyramid tradition.

Carles de la Rosa, the Culture Councillor at the Ajuntament de Sabadell, Sabadell City Council, will attend the Aplec as part of the city's institutional delegation accompanying the group. The Saballuts' performances take place in Stockholm between 14 and 16 August.

Reported by Goretti Martinez, diaridelmaestrat.com, Adrià Asbert, tarragona.cat, socpetit.cat, bestiari.cat, Berto Sagrera, somsardana.cat, Ràdio Sabadell.