Another Jury and More Awards: New Features for Barracas at Alicante's Hogueras

Las barracas in Alicante will feature significant new elements for this year's Hogueras de Alicante. The brotherhood dinner of these festive associations, held this past Saturday, announced new milestones to be achieved next June.

The first initiative will be the selection of an expert jury to evaluate the ninots from the barracas at the ninot exhibition, announced Antonio Galindo, president of the Federation. This body will consider quality, creativity, and satire, among other aspects of the proposals to be displayed at Alicante's Lonja del Pescado.

Thus, the ninots from the barracas will have a second award, granted by this new jury, while maintaining the popular award, which celebrates its second edition. This award is composed of all the people who visit the Lonja del Pescado; upon entry, they will receive a ballot to vote for their favourite barraca ninot.

In this way, both locals and visitors attending the ninot exhibition, which will open its doors on May 23, will be able to visit both adult and children's hogueras proposals, as well as those from the barracas, and cast their three verdicts in the ballot box.

This voting will remain open until June 15, when the ninot exhibition of the Hogueras will close and Barracas de Alicante, before the awards are given. Thus, after the count - from which the ninots indultats of the Hogueras will also emerge - the two banners of these associations will be awarded, one to the best ninot by popular vote and another by expert jury.

The president of the Barracas Federation, Antonio Galindo, also explained that this body "will fund one of the banners" to be awarded to the winning barraca after the exhibition closes at the Lonja del Pescado.

Another novelty announced during the brotherhood dinner of the barracas in Alicante is the creation, for the first time in the history of the Fiesta, of awards for the best children's portalada of these associations. It will be launched next June, during the main days of Hogueras.

"The children's portaladas will start competing," highlighted the president of the Barracas Federation, Antonio Galindo, with the launch of three awards: first, second, and third. This aims to further promote the figure of the barraquer infantil and their registration in the festive census, as well as to give them even more prominence in the festivities.

In this regard, Galindo has called on the 360 barraquers present during the dinner. He emphasized the importance and necessity of registering the youngest members of the barracas in the official census, as with them "we would be 25% of the Fiesta if we registered the children."

However, the president of the Barracas Federation of Alicante also celebrated the current figures. "We are growing in the number of barraquers," as was also evident at the annual meeting. The Fiesta has 11,834 people registered with the hogueras and barracas associations, according to the Federació de les Fogueres de Sant Joan last November.