28 pandas will participate in the Verdiales Major Festival: schedule and order of performance

Málaga begins the countdown to the Major Festival of Verdiales, an event that will take place on December 28 and will feature the participation of 28 pandas. The meeting, which has become one of the indispensable dates of Christmas in the city, will be held at Andrés Jiménez Díaz Park in Puerto de la Torre starting at 12 PM.

The festival was presented this Wednesday by the city councilor for Festivals, Teresa Porras, and the president of the Federation of Verdiales Pandas, José María Cuenca, who revealed that this year 34,910 euros will be distributed in prizes and that the poster has been created by the painter Mariví Verdú.

The popular celebration reaches its 64th edition and will involve a total of 28 pandas: six in the Comares style, twelve in the Montes style, and ten in the Almogía style. Each style will have prizes in different categories, including party, couple dance, braided dance, flag dance or bajín, and best singer. Additionally, a gift will be given to the children participating in the children's couple dance and flag dance of the different pandas.

The Major Festival of Verdiales is the main verdialero meeting of the year and a benchmark for the preservation and dissemination of this cultural manifestation. In this regard, the Malaga City Council continues to support this tradition through the annual agreement signed with the Federation of Verdiales Pandas, which includes a municipal contribution of 125,000 euros in subsidies.

Additionally, the verdiales will also be featured in the light and sound show on Larios street. Thus, a Christmas carol by verdiales from the Jotrón and Lomillas panda in the Montes style will be played in the first pass of each show, from the next day 23 until December 28.

Six decades of celebration

The Major Festival of Verdiales has been celebrated for more than six decades every December 28, coinciding with the feast of the Holy Innocents. Verdiales are a festive manifestation of peasant origin based on a unique fandango, sung and danced, accompanied by a musical ensemble composed of violin, guitars, tambourine, cymbals, and sticks, to which, depending on the style, instruments such as the lute or bandurria are added.

In the performances, the figures of the 'mayor', in charge of ordering the development of the performance with a baton, and the flag bearer, who leads the group dancing a Spanish, Andalusian, or Malaga flag, play prominent roles.

The Verdiales Festival represents one of the most deeply rooted cultural expressions in the Malaga area, particularly linked to the Montes region, and reflects a unique ecological and cultural context. It is worth noting that in 2014, the Malaga City Council approved an institutional motion to request UNESCO to declare Verdiales as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Performance order:

Comares style

1.- El Borge

2.- Raíces De Málaga

3.- Primera De Comares

4.- Arroyo Conca

5.- Axarquía

6.- San Isidro De Periana

Montes style

1.- Manolo Reina

2.- La Torre

3.- Montes De Guadalmedina

4.- 1.ª De Los Montes

5.- Moclinejo

6.- La Cepa

7.- Santo Pítar

8.- 1.ª De Puerto De La Torre

9.- Santa Catalina

10.- Jotrón Y Lomillas

11.- 1.ª De Benagalbón

12.- Bataná

Almogía style

1.- Raíces De Los Moras

2.- El Capitán

3.- Raíces De Almogía

4.- El Sexmo

5.- San Lorenzo Mártir

6.- Los Lagares

7.- De Almogía

8.- Los Moras

9.- Coto Tres Hermanas

10.- San Gabriel De La Joya