Jack Green. The Colombinas Festival 2013 has dedicated this year to the Marina and the relation with Huelva and the sea. It concluded on Sunday 4th August with the traditional fireworks show.
Huelva’s mayor, Pedro Rodriguez claimed that the Colombinas was “a round success. The Onubenses (people from Huelva) returned to make their festival stand out in a big way in the Colombina’s area of Huelva”. Many activities were offered to everyone who attended; music, parties for children, performances, sport competitions and bull fighting.
More than 500,000 people passed through the festival during the seven days that it was on. “It has been an intensive week of fun and being an Onubense, when Huelva puts on such a show it is a great reminder of the discovery of America and that we are hospitable and always show the best of ourselves”.
Pedro Rodriguez also highlighted the success that they have had with the music shows ‘Music beside the river’. More than 50,000 people enjoyed the concerts. Many of the crowd were from Huelva but also visitors enjoyed the music.
One major highlight was that so many people from Huelva supported the festival which had a great atmosphere and there were no reports of violent activity. The local police and ambulances were able to attend to people immediately. The mayor thanked the members of staff for their work they put into the event.
Another success that came out of the festival was the QR code badges that the local police gave out for lost children. Many parents went to the Civil Protection officers interested in this new way to locate their young children that were lost. It was shared out to 636 parents in total who used their mobile phones to find their kids.
During the Colombinas, staff cleaned and collected rubbish from all streets within the area daily. More than 200.000 kilos of litter was collected over the week.
A competition was also held where more than 500 sportsmen and women participated in five different Colombinos Trophies. Organised by the Huelva’s City Council it was a part of the programme Fiestas Colombinas. The sports included boules, swimming, golf and foot volleyball.
success – éxito
fireworks – fuegos artificiales
stand out – resaltar
discovery – descubrimiento
lost – perdido
city council – ayuntamiento
