La plaça de la Patacada will host on June 19 and 20 the first edition of the Festa Major Alternativa de Reus, a proposal promoted within the Festa Major de Sant Pere with almost 24 consecutive hours of cultural, musical, and advocacy activities.
The initiative is born with a direct criticism of the city's usual programming. Its promoters question the lack of diversity in the lineups, the scarce presence of women and dissident identities on stage, and access and consumption prices that they consider far from a popular festival.
La Patacada will bring together almost 24 hours of events with music, theater, and feminist bingo
The program will combine concerts, popular culture activities, and stage performances over two days. The agenda includes a glosado breakfast, a feminist musical bingo, the performance of the choir Desperta Cor, and a theatrical proposal by Reusenques de Lletres.
In the musical section, the lineup includes the return of DJ Pantoja, the performance of Cosina, and proposals by Palmer and Fades, focused on dissident identities and the Catalan language. Local DJs will also participate.
Xavier Mèlich, organizer of the event, summarized the collective's commitment as follows.
"We have committed to filling almost 24 hours of programming with a brutal variety of activities" - Xavier Mèlich, organizer
The organization has set the proximity of groups and producers as the main criterion, in addition to an advocacy and solidarity-oriented approach. During the event, consumption will operate with the local currency pellerofa, and the gathering will also serve to present the llamborda, a cookie created for this first edition.
Promoters question prices and the lack of diverse identities on stage
Gemma Olària, one of the promoters, places the origin of the project in the rejection of an offer that, in her opinion, is repeated with hardly any nuances from one program to another in different festive spaces of the city.
"We are tired of seeing the same programming everywhere, without identities or political proposals" - Gemma Olària, promoter of the Festa Major Alternativa de Reus
Olària adds that the proposal aims to recover the shared use of public space and defend a celebration model open to more profiles. In this approach, the festival is presented as popular, accessible, and with its own identity.
In addition to the artistic programming, the event will reserve space for collectives such as Docents en Lluita, No a la MAT, Revoltes de la Terra, Reus Refugi, and Orgull Crític LGTBI, which will have support and visibility during the event.
In the bars and drinks section, El Masclet de Reus will present two new varieties and the 1312 birres brewery from Montbrió del Camp will make the craft beer of the day.