Dimonis de Hiachat is a group of youngsters from the pueblo of Santa Margalida cultivating the art of pyrotechnic fireworks and Correfocs (fire-runs). Felanitx had a Correfoc last night as part of their annual Festes de Sant Agustí, and the Dimonis de Hiachat were once again put in charge of accomplishing the task. And man, do they know their business.

The Correfoc fire-runs are amongst the most striking peculiarities one can find in Mallorcan festivals. Before I came to Mallorca, I had never experienced a fire-run. Now I have witnessed a good number of Correfocs and each one seems to be more stunning and more chaotic than the previous one. But the chaos is only seemingly uncontrolled. In fact, every single facet of the fire-run is well rehearsed and well orchestrated or else, it would not work. The dangers would be too forbidding if every tiny detail would not be competently supervised. If you have never been to a Correfoc, you should experience one any time soon. Dress properly in a protective manner and let the pandemonium start. You will be utterly smitten, I promise.

The Correfoc is not only a visual affair and a frightening one at that but, an acoustic one as well. The fire-runners come accompanied by a group of drummers, both male and female, who give rhythm and beat to the fire-runners’ actions. It is an awesome event, both, daunting and impressive, scary and breathtaking, spectacular and stunning. The best place to watch and feel the exciting performance is from within the group, i. e. right in amongst the performers. Give it a try; you won’t regret it.

The photo (top) was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: August 28th, 2011. The time was 22:18:41. The photo (bottom) was borrowed from the Internet, courtesy of picasaweb.google.com/dimonisdehiachat.

Muchas gracias.