Bobby Gilbert Adventures

January 17th: The town had been building up to the festival all week with big mounds of sand on the roads on which big fires would be lit.

The highlight of the festival is cutting down a 20m pine tree and transporting it by hand through the very narrow streets to a hole in the pavement outside the church. Once in position the local youth fight to be the first to climb to the top of this by hugging it and squirming their way up. Huge amounts of energy needed and at worst you fall 20 metres though nobody seemed to think that was an issue.

We were having a beer in a bar in town and could see all of this live on national TV. The barman told us it was just around the corner so we ended up fighting our way though the crowds to the tree. The atmosphere was like a Shrovetide football match. Watch the video!