Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls will perform first at the Sant Fèlix 2026 human-tower display in Plaça de la Vila, Vilafranca del Penedès, on 30 August. Colla Jove dels Xiquets de Tarragona will follow, then Castellers de Vilafranca, known as the Verds, with Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls closing the rounds.

The order was set at a draw held at Vilafranca's Auditori Maria Rosa Juncosa. For residents and visitors planning to watch the town's main Festa Major display, admission to the Plaça de la Vila performance is free.

The Jove de Tarragona chose the second position after winning the draw that allowed a group to select its preferred place in the running order.

Groups set out possible structures for 30 August

Colla Vella, which will make its 66th Sant Fèlix appearance and its 53rd consecutive appearance excluding the pandemic interruption, has identified the 3d10fm as its main target. The notation means a three-person-wide, ten-storey human tower supported by two lower reinforcement levels, the folre and manilles.

The Valls group may also attempt the 4d9sf, 4d10fm or 5d9f, and has mentioned a pd8fm for the pillar round. Castellers de Vilafranca have indicated plans to attempt both ten-storey structures, the 3d10fm and 4d10fm.

Jove de Tarragona, preparing for its seventh Sant Fèlix since its 1996 debut, has also raised the possibility of a 3d10fm. Joves de Valls has pointed to the 4d9sf and td9fm, having completed two of the former and three of the latter in 2026, as well as the td8sf or 5d9f. Its longer-term 3d10fm target is the Concurs de Castells competition in Tarragona in October.

How the castell notation works

  • 3d10fm: three people across, ten storeys high, with folre and manilles reinforcement levels.
  • 4d9sf: four people across, nine storeys high, built without a folre support level.
  • 4d10fm: four people across, ten storeys high, with folre and manilles.
  • 5d9f: five people across, nine storeys high, with a folre support level.
  • pd8fm and pd9fmp: single-column pillars of eight and nine storeys, respectively; both use folre and manilles, while the nine-storey pillar also has puntals, an additional support level.
  • td9fm and td8sf: two-person-wide towers of nine storeys with folre and manilles, and eight storeys without folre, respectively.
  • 3d9f and 4d9f: three- and four-person-wide nine-storey towers with a folre support level.
  • pd6ps: a six-storey single-column pillar built per sota, meaning that new levels are added from below.

Anniversaries linked to Vilafranca's castell history

The 2026 Festa Major also coincides with several milestones from performances in Vilafranca. They include 80 years since the Nens del Vendrell completed the first post-war 4d8 in the town, and 55 years since the Verds completed their first carro gros, the nickname for a 4d8.

It is also 25 years since Joves de Valls and Minyons de Terrassa first achieved two 4d9sf structures on the same day. Ten years have passed since a Sant Fèlix performance described at the draw as the best in the event's history, featuring four ten-storey structures and two 4d9sf towers.

The programme also marks 30 years since Falcons de Vilafranca completed their first pd6ps. The Festa Major draw opened with expressions of support for Castellers de Vilafranca and for the family and friends of Manel Huguet, known as Gatsby, who died on Monday.

Reported by Redacció, Judit Benages, Aina Martí, Jan Magarolas, elMonCasteller.cat, vilafranca.cat, festamajor.vilafranca.cat, Xavi Gonzàlez, revistacastells.cat, El 3 de Vuit.