Celebrating Costa Almeria traditional craft at Huercal-Overa bobbin lace gathering

HUERCAL-OVERA will be celebrating a traditional Costa Almeria craft next month with an event focusing on the skill of bobbin lace making.
The local council and the Asociacion La Cuna del Bolillo are currently finalising the details of what will be the 12^th edition of the ‘Encuentro de Encajeras de Bolillo’, set to be staged in the Plaza Mayor on Saturday March 7.
The gathering will bring together bobbin lace makers from all over the province and from other regions of Spain, including Murcia, Alicante, Malaga, Granada, Albacete and Jaen. The local authority said the event will provide an opportunity for craftspeople to exchange ideas, but also for members of the public to find out more about the skill.
The programme will get underway at 9am with a reception and breakfast of typical home-made foods for the participants. This will be followed by bobbin lace making demonstrations, as well as music and dance with a live performance by the Los Intocables.
Speaking at the event presentation, Mayor Francisca Lourdes Fernandez said Huercal-Overa was at the centre of the Andalucia bobbin lace tradition.
“Bobbin lace forms part of our traditions and our memories, at the same time as having been a way of life for many of our women”, she pointed out.
“That sound of making the lace, the image of the women in the doorway making bobbin lace, makes up part of the identify of our municipality, memories which take us back to our childhoods, to days with our grandmothers, experiences in the neighbourhoods in which that was an everyday image”, the Mayor commented.
“Now is the time for between us all to preserve and make known this tradition which is so connected to the intangible heritage of our municipality.”
Fernandez made a special point of thanking the Cuna del Bolillo association for all its hard work on organising the gathering and for every day “communicating the values of our culture, promoting this craft among residents, and especially young people to keep it alive.”