Saffron Festival, part I – Consuegra, Spain

Fiesta de la Rosa del Azafran, Consuegra, Spain

Last fall, I was invited to photograph the Fiesta de la Rosa del Azafran (Saffron Festival) in Consuegra, Spain. Once you realize that saffron comes from crocus flowers, it seems strange that this would be a fall festival. At least where I come from, crocus are some of the first bulbs to bloom each spring. Crocus sativus, or saffron crocus, do bloom in the fall, however.

Now, back to the Saffron Festival… I landed in Madrid around 7 or 8 am on October 26th and climbed into a van headed for Consuegra. Before even seeing the town, we made a stop at a field of saffron crocus that were ready to be harvested.

While I was really looking forward to dropping my bags off at the hotel and grabbing a quick shower, it was a great opportunity to see these flowers as they grow in the fields. Much of the harvest was already over, so this was the only field I saw during my trip that was still in bloom. A couple of hardy locals showed how the blossoms are plucked and collected in baskets — a process that looks truly back-breaking to me.

On to Consuegra, where I would spend the next two nights. It’s a picturesque town situated below a hill that is dotted with windmills. This region, La Mancha, is home to the tales of Don Quixote.

I’ll get back to those windmills in a future post, but next on the itinerary for the Saffron Festival was a series of competitions to see who could pluck the saffron from the crocus blooms most quickly and most efficiently. There were several age groups competing and, all-in-all, everyone seemed to take the process quite seriously. The contest took place in a large tent in the Plaza Mayor of Consuegra.

Making our way up the hill, past a few of the windmills, we had one more saffron-harvesting demonstration in the old castle that overlooks Consuegra.

Of course, no Spanish festival would end without some folkloric dance. We’ll take a look at that in the next post.