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ARCHIVED - Altea cancels unique firework festival for second year running
The Castell de l'Olla fiesta normally attracts more than 50,000 people from across the Alicante province.
The Castell de l'Olla Brotherhood has cancelled the 34th festival of light, music and pyrotechnics for the second year running due to the pandemic and fears of overcrowding.
The festival is considered the most spectacular event of its kind and is unique in that the fireworks are launched entirely from the sea in the beautiful bay of Altea.
The importance of the traditional event has been recognised with the of the Award for Tourism Merit a distinction which was awarded by the Costa Blanca Provincial Tourist Board in 1999.
But "despite the improvement of the pandemic and the progress of the vaccination campaign in Valencia region", president of the Brotherhood, José Pérez Gorgoll, announced today, Thursday, May 27, the show of light and colour won't go ahead this summer.
"After debating the pros and cons, we took the unanimous decision to suspend the event given that due to the characteristics of the Castell de l'Olla, it would be impossible to avoid the crowds that would prevent the containment measures," he said.
The Brotherhood is concerned that, despite the fact that every year there are more than 200 police and Civil Protection volunteers, public safety could not be assured.
Thoughts have now turned to 2022, and international award-winning illustrator, Paco Roca, who designed this year's poster, will be tasked to create another for next year when the festival will run alongside an extensive cultural programme.
The decision to cancel will be a huge blow to local businesses which benefit from the tens of thousands of visitors to Altea in the Marina Baixa comarca of Alicante province.
Altea is 10km from Benidorm on the Costa Blanca and part of the Alfas del Pi municipality, which is home to more than 2,400 Britons.
IMAGE: Amics del castell de l'Olla