Basque ethnography at a glance

The flag of Oyón flies over Cachi, 2017. José Ángel Chasco.

On 22 January the city of Oyón (Rioja Alavesa) celebrates its patronal festival in honour of Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius. The five main events of this major winter celebration are: Cachi’s rolling, the burning of the bonfire, the singing at dawn, the dance dedicated to the patrons, and the firework display during the procession.

On the eve Cachi (also named Bobo) performs before the parish temple. The councillor for culture (formerly the trustee) waves the city flag over Bobo, who dances and turns over and over on the ground with arms and legs tight against the body. Once the dancing is done, Cachi stands up, and tossing his two-tone hat in the air, shouts: “¡Viva san Vicente y san Anastasio!” (Hooray for Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius!), to which the people of Oyón reply with a “¡Viva!” (Hooray!).

Bobo holding the skin of a fox, 2017. José Ángel Chasco.

Bobo wears an eye-catching costume consisting of shoes, trousers, jacket and a cone-shaped hat in a bicolour scheme of red alternating and contrasting with green. In his right arm he holds a stick with the skin of a fox hanging from it.

The flag of Oyón bears the city coat of arms in the centre of the obverse with St Andrew’s cross woven into the harlequin fabric.

From the parish church processioners and authorities head for city hall, where Bobo performs again his mysterious rolling. The culture councillor flies the city flag over the moving body of this enigmatic character whose antiquity dates from the year 1676.

A bonfire locals call marcho built with vine shoots, gorse wood in the past (as documented since 1662), is then lit in the main square. The council proceeds to present residents and visitors with an appetiser.

On the day of the feast, in the early hours of the morning, a chant called aurora is sung to honour Saint Vincent and Saint Anastasius, the patron saints of Oyón, with new lyrics and music every year.

Dancers perform the Jota of St Vincent, 2017. José Ángel Chasco.

A dance known in Oyón as Jota of St Vincent or Dance of the Patrons is performed four times as the parade marches following high mass. It is enacted by ten dancers and Cachi. The dancer who plays the part of Cachi stands out from the rest by his clothing. The dance dates back to 1662.

After a last dance in the main square, the party stops in St Vincent’s Square and fire is set to the string of fireworks known as torico featuring a cardboard shape of a bull and a bullfighter who spin at great speed on a wheel mounted upon a post. The show ends with the explosion of both bull and bullfighter. The tradition is observed in remembrance of a bull said to have escaped from the pen and coincided in its flight with the procession. The citizens of Oyón entrusted themselves to their patron saints and the bull dropped exhausted causing no harm. The pyrotechnic wheel is documented since 1674, and bullfighting on the occasion of the feast of St Vincent started in 1675.

On that same day Bobo rolls again twice more by the church and the council house under the flying flag of the city. The origins of the legendary figure of Cachi are uncertain. In the 16th-20th centuries, he appears as companion, conductor and guide to groups of dancers during patronal festivals in cities across the whole of the Spanish territory and much of Europe. A remarkable legend makes a connection between Cachi and a Navarrese king, defeated and runaway, who came to ask for shelter in Oyón. King Cachi appealed for clemency, and in exchange for forgiveness, the people of Oyón demanded that he roll on the ground, be it muddy or snowy, during the patron saint festivities.

José Ángel Chasco – Etniker Álava – Etniker Euskalerria Groups

Translated by Jaione Bilbao – Language Department – Labayru Fundazioa

Reference for further information: Manuel González Pastor. Fiestas patronales de Oyón-Oion, el Cachi y otras tradiciones [Patron saint festivities in Oyón-Oion, Cachi and other traditions], 2010.