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Slate of activities to help fete Balearic Islands Day

Ball pages 5 vertical moonkoala Dia IllesThe Formentera Department of Festivities has announced plans for Dia de les Illes Balears (Balearic Islands Day) celebrations on Formentera. Department head Susana Labrador declared next Tuesday, 1 March, would be a day replete with activities (think a ceremony at one p.m. on the Sant Francesc square) and festivities, including traditional dance troupes Es Xacoters and Es Pastorells.

Before the midday ceremony and dance display get under way, participants in the Cursa Solidària per a la Dona—a footrace for female solidarity—will take to the blocks for an 11-a.m. start time. Runners will take one of two routes—one 5-km and one 10-km—both of which begin and end at the plaça de la Constitució in Sant Francesc. Each runner's 10-euro registration fee will go to support the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC) and entitles participants to a commemorative T-shirt. Signups are being held at the Antoni Blanc fitness centre, the Citizen Information Office (OAC) and on the www.formenteraesport365.com website.

At two o' clock, local groups Disfruta Formentera and Grup Esportiu Espalmador have scheduled a community paella. Prices are set at €15 for adults and €10 for children and proceeds will once again go to benefit the AECC. Island band La 22 will cover the first round of musical duties, a job Councillor Labrador assured the group «has got under control».

Later on, residents will be treated to a concert called «Sons de les Illes». At eight o' clock, a group formed by a string-trio (Kepa Artetxe, Miquel Àngel Aguiló and Xisco Aguiló) and soprano Abigail Sardón will perform arrangements of homegrown popular songs in the Sant Francesc church.

Concurrent concerts across the islands

The councillor of local holidays was especially pleased to announce the simultaneous performances planned for 7:30 p.m., Saturday February 27th, on each of the four islands. In Formentera, Arrels will open the show for Mallorca-native Tomeu Penya and the rest of the islands will follow suit, each hosting an act from a different island, all at the same time. The idea, explained Labrador, is to promote cultural exchanges across the region. Eivissa crowds that evening will be regaled with the show Nits de Formentera.

More activities

Balearic Islands day doesn't end there. Saturday marks the fifth year of the Formentera All Round Trail (abbreviated as FART). The same day will include an open-house at the Formentera hospital and a presentation of the health services helicopter. Sunday the 28th, children aged 6 to 12 are invited to take part in an IBEAM-led discovery workshop of undersea architecture. Monday the 29th basketball teams from the four corners of the region will come together for the fourth Balearic Islands basketball tournament.

Balearic Islands Day celebrations will officially come to a close the weekend of 5-6 March, with two theatre productions to mark the occasion. As Councillor Labrador announced, Saturday the 5th at nine p.m. in the cinema, Eivissa theatre group Es Cubells will treat audiences to Peluts i Pelats (roughly translated as 'The Scruffy and the Shaven'). Then, Sunday the 6th at 5:30 p.m., Clownoscopio will take to the same stage for their performance of the slapstick clown show «Fràgil» for viewers five and under. We remind readers that, as per a joint accord valued at €8,000 and signed by the Palma administration and the Consell de Formentera, costs of the Balearic Islands Day celebrations will be covered by the Govern balear.