El Colacho, Baby Jumping Festival

On the Sunday after Corpus Christi, (6th June 2010), in the Northern Spanish village of Castrillo de Murcia anyone who has a newborn addition to their family can bring their baby along to this festival known as the El Colacho which has taken place on an annual basis since way back in the 1620's.

The festival itself is part of the celebrations of the Catholic festival of Corpus Christi which are held all over Spain. Whilst at this particular time many other cities and towns have spectacular processions and a a wide variety of popular celebrations, but this one has to be the strangest and only Baby Jumping Festival.

The babies are laid out on mattresses and grown men dressed as devils jump over the infants and this is supposed to cleanse them of all evil doings.

Like a lot of Spain's festivals, the origins of El Colacho are a little vague, but the celebration is a great example of the mix of traditional Spanish folklore and religion.

The celebrations are great to watch and continue for a few days, the most important of these is the Sunday following Corpus Christi which is usually celebrated on the Thursday.

The Brotherhood of Santísimo Sacramento de Minerva, who organise the festivities chase people around the town at throughout the day.

All in all this has to be one of the strangest festivals in all of Spain, but well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Where to Stay

Accommodation in the area is limited so you are best to Stay in the nearby city of Burgos and traveling to Castrillo de Murcia on the day. Check out some of Burgos' hotel accommodation or if you are on a budget why not try some of Burgos' Hostel accommodation

Getting There

To get there you should book a flight to Madrid, Bilboa or Valladolid

You might then consider hiring a car, booking a train ticket or book a bus ticket to get you to your final destination.