Market with traditional Asturian "sport" with axes, milkmaids and more fun

Hi folks,

This weekend the Artenatur fair (Art and nature) was held in the village where I live at weekends.

This fair has been held for thirteen years now and includes a wide programme of activities during the weekend with several markets of natural products, local handicrafts and also some recreational activities.

Artenatur webpage

Due to family commitments, I could not come to the fair on Saturday, but on Sunday morning, despite the rainy weather, I could not miss my village and not share in some way in Hive this event.

The opening of the fair on Sunday was at 11:00 a.m. and the main event which is the traditional Asturian sports started at 12:00 a.m., so before starting a day at the fair I went to one of the cafes in the village to have a coffee and a biscuit to recharge my batteries for the intense morning.

Once 11 o'clock in the morning arrived, I began my tour of the stalls selling products at the fair, which were located in María Cristina de La Caridad park, taking advantage of the fact that with the light rain and the fact that it was the beginning of the fair, there would be few people and I could take photographs more calmly and at the same time talk to some of the exhibitors.

Food-related stalls

The first part of the park was made up of about 10 exhibitors of products from the garden, livestock or handmade products.

Cabellon Farm

One of the stalls I was most excited to visit was the Finca El Cabellon stall, as it is a vegetable stall of a farm related to a training and education centre for people with some kind of disability, such as people with autism or Down's syndrome.

It is a great pride to buy some vegetables from them knowing that the benefits of their sales go entirely to support this education centre located in Tapia de Casariego (about 8 km from La Caridad).

Bread stall

Another of the most visited stands, although not first thing in the morning, are the bread stalls.

At a time when we normally eat highly industrialised bread it is a delight to find bread made with natural flours and baked in a wood-fired oven.

There were three bread stalls in total and some of them even had baked goods such as doughnuts or traditional almond and hazelnut cakes that made my mouth water.

Asturias and its cheeses.

Asturias is a region with a large number of cattle, goat and sheep farms. Therefore, a couple of stands of traditional Asturian cheeses such as gamoneu cheese and cabrales cheese could not be missing as star products.

Preserves from the Sea

Because Asturias, apart from being mountainous, is a community with many kilometres of coastline, the fair could not miss a stand with traditional canned tuna and anchovies.

To be able to taste these delicacies preserved in a natural way without industrial ingredients is a luxury and this stall was certainly a great success.

Honey and bees

Another of the stalls that abounded in this area dedicated to natural and garden products was honey.

In Asturias there are many beekeepers and to my surprise, in addition to the sale of homemade honey, there were also cosmetic products prepared with honey as the main ingredient.

Craft stalls

In addition to the food-related stalls, there were about 10 stalls related to handicrafts.

The ones I liked the most were in particular a stall with costume jewellery and other ornaments made of gems set with precious metals.

And I also really liked the wooden craft stalls, such as the splendid clocks with wood carvings making figures inside them.

Traditional Asturian sports

Once 12:00 came the best moment of the fair for me, because it was the moment to see five traditional Asturian games or sports, which as you will see are very peculiar.

Log Chopping with an Axe

Due to the traditionally rural origins of Asturias and to heat the houses in winter it was necessary to have firewood. One of the traditional Asturian "sports" or games is the chopping of a log with an axe.

The competition consists of cutting the log in half in the least number of axes.

Specifically, this first participant took 71 axes to cut the pine trunk of about 60 centimetres in diameter.

However, his opponent took only 41 axes.

Cutting 4 logs in relays.

The competition then continued with the cutting of 4 logs of 60 centimetres in diameter in pairs and by relay.

The winning pair is the first to complete their 4 logs.

On this occasion, as in the test of cutting in fewer strokes, it was for the pair with the boy in the blue shirt who is a virtuoso in the handling of the axe and the cutting of logs.

Milkmaid Race

One of the most fun games was to watch each participant run around a small circuit carrying two iron milk churns of 35kg each.

The winner was the one who completed the most laps of the circuit.

In addition, it was fun to see 2 children competing, but with milk churns weighing 1kg each, and how each participating child was presented with a cap from the sponsor of the event, one of the banks in the region.

Shoulder resistance

A test that I have never seen before and which has recently been incorporated by the group of 6 councils organising the event, is a shoulder strength endurance test.

The game consists of placing 10 iron horseshoes on a stick with a certain indentation.

Once they have been placed, you start counting how long you can resist each one of them.

One of the participants in the axe cutting contest was the one who lasted the longest with a time of about one minute.

Cutting with saw and castle

This is the most beautiful test as two pairs compete to cut a long log into 4 pieces.

From each cut piece they then have to make 8 splinters for a total of 32 splinters.

Once they have the 32 splinters they have to build a wooden castle.

And the champion is the one who holds the castle first for at least 5 seconds.

A real treat to watch these veterans compete.

Folkloric Dance

Before going home, I went to the market again and found a traditional Asturian dance performance with a bagpipe band.

I hope you like the fun Sunday I had in my village.

Best regards.