A night of music and chess at the Center Artesà Tradicionàrius
When I arrive at the bar of the Center Artesà Tradicionàrius, the place is packed. There is no free table and everyone has a reservation. I see people of all ages who have come to enjoy a night of traditional music. Today is the 31st of January and Les vespres del wednesday 2024 begins, an initiative that is repeated every week during the International Folk Festival Tradicionàrius, which this year reaches its 37th edition. The master of ceremonies is the musician Marcel Casellas, who each time invites different artists to share the stage with him, without forgetting to leave room for anyone who wants to join the party. Today he is accompanied by the violinist Marx Xarau and the accordionist Ferran Martínez.
The Fourth Gambits Tournament, a tribute to the CAT director
But tonight there is not only music, but also chess. Next to the stage, there are some tablets where the Fourth Gambit Tournament is played, a very special chess competition. Each week, a gambit is chosen by lottery for the participants to make in their game. A gambit is a move that involves offering a piece to the opponent to gain a strategic advantage. This idea also symbolizes the figure of the remembered director of the CAT, Jordi Fàbregas, who gave up his musical career to create a space of reference for Catalan folklore, as Sara Peralta, responsible for audiences and communication, tells me.
A relaxed and fun atmosphere among friends
The tournament is played in a relaxed and fun atmosphere, with the music, the bar and the people as a backdrop. It’s not your typical chess tournament where you have to be quiet and focused. To make this attractive and original combination possible, the center has had the collaboration of other entities in the Gràcia neighborhood: Club Escacs Tres Peons and La Barraqueta Scacs. Chess starts at eight in the evening, an hour before the music, which is when people are already ordering their dinner and drinks among acquaintances who have become friends. And yes, I say friends, because at CAT a community is created between all the members or, as they say, the “friends” of the center.
The hen, the priest and other song-dances
And this is how, all together, some singing, others dancing from time to time or eating delicious toast and sandwiches, and between soft drinks and beers, folklore is permeated with the music that Casellas offers us: songs-dances like La gallina and the priest, the forbidden shepherd’s masses that luckily have been preserved in the town of La Llacuna in Anoia, and many other dances, contrapassos, rumbas and polkas that enliven the bar for two hours with the invited grallas, tenors and the classic flabiol and tambourine. The evening ends with the hymn of the occasion, but I myself could say that “you will surely fall in love with Wednesday evenings!”.
Wednesday evenings, an essential appointment
These sessions will be held every Wednesday at 9:00 pm at the CAT Bar until March 20 this year, when the eighth and final party will take place. During Wednesday evenings, Sergi Masalias, Marcel Marimon, Queralt Valls, Ciscu Cardona, Roger Andorrà, Marc Serrats, Simone Lambregts, Pol Solé, Pep Pascual, Francesc Tomàs, Eva Garín, Marçal Ramon, Maria Perera and Blai Casals will participate. To reserve a table (recommended!), you can write an email to [email protected].