2. What is Amagüestu?
From ancient times, after
harvesting the chestnuts,
apples and corncob,
people all over Asturias
celebrate an autumn
party, called Amagüestu
o “Magüestu”.
Asturias produces a lot of
this healthy food.
In Spanish, Autumn is
Otoño.
In Asturian language,
Seronda.
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3. The Maguëstu is the essential Asturian
autumn pagan origin festival.
In Asturias, the time to collect chestnuts
match with the apple mash to make the
cider. This is why the cider cannot fail in
the amagüestos. This cider is the first juice
from the mash apple, without
fermentation and it has no alcohol. The
amagüestos are fests where the chestnuts
are roasted. We put the chestnut in the
drum on the fire and stir it. With this fest,
we remind earlier times when the
chestnuts were one of the most
important food in our kitchens, before
the corn and potato arrival.
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4. When do we celebrate it?
Always in Autumn
(November is the best
month for it)
Usually when its time to
remove the leaves in the
corncobs
Frequently when the
chestnut sellers are ready
to bake the chestnuts and
appear in our streets
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5. Where do we celebrate it?
Now, we celebrate it in
our schools and festivals
in different villages all
over Asturias.
But, in ancient times, it
was celebrated in all the
small villages when
summer was over and
the harvest was on.
Its origin could be Celtic.
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6. How do we prepare it?
In our classes: English
language, Arts and crafts,
Asturian language… we prepare
la montera picona, (a
tradicional hat from ancient
times) and a pin with some
typical object of our culture.
We prepared several displays,
as well: about apples, jet (a
lignite), pottery…
And a party with dances,
games, workshops, baked
chestnuts and sweet cider.
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7. Our cultural week
Every year in our school we
choose an aspect of our
traditions and develop it with
pupils. Last year Mr. Valentín
Monte, a teacher (he is retired
now) collaborated with us and
we have an exhibition and
speeches about jet.
Jet is a product of high
pressure decomposition of
wood from millions of years
ago, commonly the wood of
trees of the family
Araucariaceae. Jet is easily
polished and is used in
manufacturing jewellery
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8. Our cultural week II
This Autumn Mr Valentín
Monte collaborated again with
C.P. Río Piles (his school) and
we worked about the pottery
in Somió (our neighbourhood).
It has a very important
relationship with “Amagüestu”,
because of most of the pottery
was made in order to use in
“espichas”, the festivals people
did in Autumn, after
harvesting the chestnuts,
apples and corncob, when the
cider could be drunk
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9. Apples and sweet cider
Every odd year one of the
aspects we work at school is
the apple, one of the symbols
of our region. We make apple
juice (sweet cider) and we
study all about the process.
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10. Time for the chestnut
And every even year one of
the aspects we work in our
classes is the chestnut, that we
bake and eat at school.
It is a very good season to visit
the forest and study our trees.
Most of them are our
classmates in the schoolyard
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11. Our traditional clothes
It is very usual that these
days, when we celebrate
Amagüestu, some children
come to school with the
traditional costumes of our
land.
This year 2012 we have an
activity about this item.
Iñaki, our teacher of music,
showed all the pupils how
to dress up with these
clothes.
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12. It’s time for the bagpipe
And it’s time for the party. Usually we choose a Friday to
finish our Amagüestu: We dance with the music of our well
known bagpipe.
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14. Let’s start the festival.
It’s time for dancing
After the “pregón”
or opening speech
(some pupils read a
proclamation using
the Asturian
language) we dance
and sing traditional
music, we play
ancient games and
… finally it’s time to
eat the baked
chestnuts and drink
the sweet cider with
friends.
Let’s watch the
pictures
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15. Let’s dance: Danza prima
A traditional dance.
Watch it in youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=ES&hl=es&v=fRnNhY1qGFg
The Danza Prima is performed
throughout the length and breadth of
Asturias. In terms of the melody
accompanying the dance there are
numerous versions to be heard. It is a
collective, circular and choral dance.
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16. LYRICS: Danza prima II
¡AY!, UN GALÁN DE ESTA VILLA.
¡Ay!, diga a la blanca niña,
¡Ay! un galán de esta villa,
¡ay!, diga a la niña blanca,
¡ay!, un galán de esta casa,
¡ay!, que su amigo la espera,
¡ay!, de lejos que venía,
¡ay!, que su amigo la aguarda
¡ay!, de lejos que llegaba.
al pie de una fuente fría,
¡Ay!, diga lo que él quería.
al pie de una fuente clara,
¡Ay!, diga lo que él buscaba.
que por el oro corría,
¡Ay!, busco a la blanca niña,
que por el oro manaba,
¡ay!, busco a la niña blanca,
a orillas del mar que suena,
que tiene voz delgadina,
a orillas del mar que brama.
que tiene la voz de plata;
Ya viene la blanca niña,
cabello de oro tejía,
ya viene la niña blanca,
cabello de oro trenzaba.
al pie de la fuente fría
Otra no hay en esta villa,
que por el oro manaba;
otra no hay en esta casa,
la tan fresca mañanica,
si no era una mi prima,
mañanica la tan clara;
si no una prima hermana;
¡ay! venga la luz del día,
¡ay!, de marido pedida,
¡ay!, de marido velada. ¡ay! venga la luz del alba.
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17. At the end of October and beginning of November,
we start feeling the chestnuts’ air, a strong and
warm wind that pull the chestnut hedgehog down.
It is time to go to the gueta to make amagüestos.
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