The Xinzo Entroido cycle, day by day

The official Entroido website, run by Xinzo de Limia Town Council, sums up the festival as "a feeling" and presents the Xinzo Entroido as one of the most important for its ritual weight and the longest in Europe, because it stretches over five consecutive weeks. The main days are Entroido Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but the traditional cycle starts much earlier, with the Fareleiro, Oleiro and Corredoiro Sundays, and extends to Piñata Sunday. The same site recalls that the festival has been declared of International Tourist Interest since 2019 ^[1][2].

The Saturdays and the Petardazo

Given the festival’s tourist appeal, the Town Council decided to turn the Saturdays before each Sunday of the cycle into festive days too. The first is Petardazo Saturday: at 00:00 a big rocket is fired which, bursting in the skies of A Limia, announces that the Entroido cycle begins ^[2][4].

The three preceding Sundays

• Fareleiro (own page: Fareleiro Sunday). Aimed mainly at children, it has its antecedents in past decades, when young men and women threw bran at each other on their way to the milling. Kilos of bran and flour dye the Praza Maior, the nearby streets and anyone daring to take part white; the website advises wearing your oldest clothes ^[2][5].
• Oleiro (own page: Oleiro Sunday). This is the Xogo das Olas (Game of the Pots), one of the most original and spectacular traditions. It comes from the custom of taking the pots from young women going to the fountains and passing them among the young men in order to talk to them. Today it is played in the evening between the Praza Maior and the Praza de Oriente, through the Barrio de Abaixo: hundreds of pots from Niñodáguia fly and smash on the ground; most are empty and others hide surprises, and whoever drops the pot must pay a round of wine ^[2][6].
• Corredoiro. On the third weekend the desire to party is unleashed and hundreds of people in costume take to the streets. It is the day when the Pantallas are already allowed to occupy squares and streets, and music and costumes fill the town ^[2][9].

The Meco and Corredoiro Night

The Saturday before Oleiro Sunday is that of the parade and hanging of the Meco, a figure that presides over the festival as a symbol of the Galician Entroido against authority and is used to make fun of figures in the news. The Meco climbs to the lookout accompanied by the Procession of the Fachós, torches made by hand from straw harvested by hand at a July reaping ^[2][7].

On the eve of Corredoiro comes Corredoiro Night, when the men must dress as women. The first organised costumed groups and the first parodies are seen then ^[2][8].

The central days

Saturday serves as a warm-up before four intense days. Sunday starts early: those who did not go to bed the night before greet churchgoers in the streets of the old quarter, and the exit from mass is used to display comic talents. Monday, not a public holiday, is the day that local people make most of to enjoy the festival more intimately, and in the mornings the entroido blends with everyday chores. On Tuesdays the Tuesday Parade brings hundreds of visitors to watch costumes, troupes, floats and music groups go by. The website insists there are no written rules: an outlandish or the most elaborate outfit are both fine, there is constant music from bagpipers and brass bands and, always, the backdrop of the Pantallas, which run, jump, ring their bells and jingles and clash their bladders to inspire respect in those not in costume ^[2].

Children’s parade

The Children’s Parade is held on the Friday before the Entroido weekend and has become one of the unmissable events: hundreds of boys and girls walk the streets of Xinzo from their schools to the Praza Maior, where they mix with pupils from other concellos of A Limia. Each class works for weeks beforehand on the costume it will wear, which strengthens knowledge of the traditions among the comarca’s children ^[2][10].

Burial of the Sardine and Piñata Sunday

Elsewhere in the peninsula the Carnival would end with the burial of the sardine, but in Xinzo it goes on for one more day. At the Burial of the Sardine, the funeral procession satirises and exaggerates the sadness of the farewell up to the sardine’s final fire, on the first day of Lent; nothing escapes the Entroido’s transgressive gaze, not even the Dona da Fouce (Death). The festival is considered over on Piñata Sunday, with children’s activities and the last notes of the brass bands ^[2][11].

The Pantalla

The website defines the Pantalla as Xinzo’s traditional mask, a symbol of the town internationally, and gives it the role of guardian of the Entroido, ensuring everyone takes an active part in the festival ^[3]. More detail in the anatomy of the Pantalla.

Recent changes in organisation

Some changes documented on the official website: in 2020 the parade of troupes and floats moved to Piñata Sunday, with prior registration and cash prizes for costumes, troupes and floats ^[12], and that same year the Town Council adopted a Self-Protection Plan for the first time, with evacuation zones, emergency resources and traffic closures depending on the day ^[13]. Programmes, artists and timetables change every year: for the current edition, always check the Town Council’s official website (https://xinzo.gal/entroido/).

How the comarca’s website told it in 2009

The comarca website xinzodelimia.eu described in 2009 some traditions with details that remain useful today for understanding the festival ^[14]–^[18]:

• Farelada. It then explained that Fareleiro used to be a sexist day, because only the men fled from the women, and that the flour battle in the streets could use over 2,000 kg ^[14]. Today, according to the Town Council, it is a day designed mainly for children ^[5].
• Oleiro. It spoke of circles passing clay pots, brought from Niñodáguia, filled with water or flour; whoever drops theirs pays a bottle of wine, which is placed in the "Sacred Pot" and shared afterwards by the participants ^[15].
• Meco. The straw puppet, dressed in old clothes, hung from a pole in the square or at a crossroads, places where, according to belief, souls and the Santa Compaña appear. Formerly each district of Xinzo had its own; in 2009 two remained, one in the Praza Maior and another in the Barrio de Abaixo, in the Praza de Oriente ^[16].
• Burial of the Sardine. It was given as the day on which the Entroido practically ends, a time to criticise politicians, the Church and the Government and for gastronomic excess (filloas, orellas, pork dishes) ^[17]. In 2026 the official website still describes it as a satirical funeral procession ^[11].
• Piñata. The 2009 website said it set the full stop and that one had to wait a year to begin again ^[18].

By then the cycle was already presented as the longest in Spain, and the Museo Galego do Entroido ran pantalla workshops for pupils in the comarca and exhibitions of posters and masks ^[14].

Frequently asked questions

How long does the Xinzo Entroido last? Five consecutive weeks, from the Petardazo to Piñata Sunday ^[2].

When was it declared of International Tourist Interest? In 2019, according to the Town Council’s official website ^[1].

What is thrown on Oleiro? Clay pots brought from Niñodáguia; whoever drops theirs pays a round of wine ^[2].

Links

• Entroido of Xinzo de Limia
• Anatomy of the Pantalla
• Entroido: memory and archive

Sources

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