The University of Zaragoza’s Vice-Rectorate for Culture and Heritage has decided to give La Ronda de Boltaña the honor and responsibility of launching the series of concerts, exhibitions and talks that will take place throughout the academic year. Next Friday at 7 p.m., genuine anthems of the Aragonese community such as "Banderas de humo," "País de anochecida" and "Bailando entre las ruinas" will ring out more powerfully than ever at the Paraninfo.
A HISTORIC GROUP BORN IN THE HEART OF THE PYRENEES
In January 1992, a group of friends from Boltaña considered reviving the ronda, an event that had played an important role in local festivities but had disappeared some time earlier. On that Saint Paul’s Day, Boltaña’s minor festival, the streets once again vibrated with the familiar but almost forgotten sound of the bagpipe, accompanied by the horn, accordions, guitars, small guitars, lutes, bandurrias... There were jotas, but also mazurkas, polkas and pasodobles; music from Sobrarbe, the entire Pyrenees and all of Aragón.
The ronda is a town "in the midst of celebration," with wine jugs and treats, basil, tables laden with food and open doors. A cry of life and hope in our country of shuttered homes and departed people. An opportunity to feel united and supportive of our neighbors, because those who join the ronda open their doors to everyone, and everyone opens their doors to them.
That is the spirit of La Ronda de Boltaña, and more than 30 years later they remain where they began, where they want to be: in Boltaña... Though sometimes their rondas take them farther than expected. Attending the Zaragoza concert free of charge required prior registration.
