The Festa Major of Santa Tecla is very similar to the Festa Major of Sant Bartomeu with a few small differences. The standard bearer during Santa Tecla is always a woman, there is no cercavila at noon on the 22nd and it takes place instead in the afternoon. The matinal on the 23rd of September is a children’s matinal and boys and girls celebrate the fiesta with their own gegants, dracs and àligas made by themselves (some of them are true small replicas of the originals). It is perhaps a more intimate fiesta, it is the tiny “Festa Major”, with less affluence that Festa Major of Sant Bartomeu, but with its charm and character.
During the weekend prior to Santa Tecla, Sitges organises the Nit de Foc, the night of fire, with a spectacular correfoc (literally in English a “fire-run”). Different groups of devils and fire-beasts (papier-mâché dragons and eagles) from Sitges and other local towns gather for this event and run at the crowds setting off the fireworks among the spectators and showering them with sparks and fire while the drums beat and the air is heavy with smoke and sulphur. The correfoc moves through the narrow streets, passes the town hall and continues along the Paseo de la Ribera.
The ideal dress code for this event is a hat, a scarf to tie around nose and mouth, an old long sleeve garment made of natural fibres that will not catch fire with the sparks and comfortable shoes for running and dancing when all hell lets loose!
