For me, the start of May is when we really begin to start the countdown to fiesta. Forget the clock in front of Kukuxumusu because it is only a number. What you feel in your heart is the approach of fiesta, and it is normally something in the air.
In May the ground begins to dry out all across Navarra, the river in Tafalla becomes choked with weeds and the water sinks away. The air gets warmer, the skies are deep in blue and the mood lifts. The first signs of fiesta begin to be seen. Soon we will see the poster for this year’s fiesta and the preparations go on.
And then you begin to daydream. You may be at work, but you could be thinking of those great nights of fiesta with your friends over a meal in the street. You could be taking a pincho and a mini, but you are thinking of the txupinazo. You could be strolling up Estafeta during the paseo but you are thinking of the encierro. You may reach into your closet to take out your blue shirt but stop and see the white shirt hanging up, with the faja and the pañuelo nearby and you will remember that soon it is time to put them on again and to be out in the streets for San Fermín.
Keep daydreaming, because there is not long for fiestas.
