May Tree Festival and the Cuckold Dance in Cornellà del Terri

Cornellà del Terri celebrates its main festival coinciding with Holy Week. Between Good Friday and Easter Monday, a large number of festive activities take place that revolve around the planting of the maypole, among which a dance called Baile del Cornudo stands out for its popularity.

Once the tree is planted, the villagers perform the famous Cuckold Dance, which is danced around the maypole. The dancers dance through the town, forming a long line, to the sound of cheerful music. Suddenly, the Cuckold appears, a character with a fur hat carrying two large twisted goat horns and six couples surrounding him, forming a circle.

As the music plays, the women advance in the circle and the Cuckold jumps between them. He then repeats the operation between the dancers. Finally, the Cuckold takes a girl by the hand and breaks the circle so that he can sneak out through an adjacent street. The song continues with the music and at the end he also plays some sardanas. This dance, celebrated in an atmosphere of joy, jokes and good humour, is unique in Catalonia. It is also a clear example of the capacity to recover traditions, since the choreography and the music that plays had disappeared and were taken from the documents left by Joan Amades.

The festival was declared a Traditional Festival of National Interest by the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1999.