Castellers de Vilafranca


The Castellers de Vilafranca is a cultural and sporting association whose main objective is to build castells. It has the status of a public-interest association.
The group was founded in 1948 in response to the increased interest in human tower building in Vilafranca del Penedès, a Catalan tradition that has evolved since the 18th century Ball de Valencians, a dance from Valencia.
Nowadays, the Castellers de Vilafranca have about 400 active human tower building members of all ages, with no discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, sex or social status. They share the common goal of building human towers, democratic values, cooperation and teamwork, a constant desire to surpass themselves, and a will to maintain a lead over a select and competitive group of rival human tower associations. The group’s headquarters is Cal Figarot, Casa Via Raventós, a house located in downtown Vilafranca del Penedès and specially adapted for human tower building activity.
The group is one of the most important organizations in Vilafranca del Penedès and has represented Catalan culture abroad numerous times. The association has more than five hundred official supporters, and has the support of several public and private institutions. In addition to hosting and participating in human tower exhibitions, it also organizes other cultural activities, such as small-scale concerts, a poetry contest, a massive bicycle event, a dominoes tournament, food events and a human tower school for kids.
The Castellers de Vilafranca’s efforts to preserve and promote popular Catalan culture have been recognized by the town of Vilafranca del Penedès, which awarded the group with the Medalla de la Vila, and by the Generalitat de Catalunya with the Creu de Sant Jordi.

History

The Castellers de Vilafranca cultural association was founded in September 1948 by Oriol Rossell, who became the first cap de colla. The group successfully started with seven-level towers, and also forged close relationships with casteller groups in other towns. The first caps de colla were Oriol Rossell and Ramon Sala. The group originally wore rose-coloured shirts, and subsequently, red ones.
In 1956, the group became almost inactive due to internal disagreements and disputes. In 1957, it reorganized and elected to wear green shirts, which is still the distinctive colour used by the group today. From 1957 to 1968, seven-level towers were the norm, and the cinc de set was the highest tower achieved. From 1969 to 1974, the group improved considerably, building the first towers in the eight-level category: the torre de Set, quatre de vuit, tres de vuit, pilar de sis, and the torre de vuit amb folre. In 1972, the group won the Concurs de castells de Tarragona, the Human Towers Competition held biennially in Tarragona city in the south of Catalonia. During those years, the caps de colla were Josep Pedrol, Carles Domènech, Joan Bolet, Gabi Martínez, Lluís Giménez and Gabi Martínez, again.
In 1975, the group went through major internal restructuring, shifting from the very personal and almost-exclusive leadership of the cap de colla to management of the technical side of tower-building by a consensual team. 1981 brought with it more internal changes, and it was decided that team members would no longer be individually paid. This provoked a division in the group. From 1975 to 1982, eight-level towers were performed frequently but with difficulties. In 1983 and 1984, the group regained its strength in this category and, in 1985, it built the first cinc de vuit. This landmark achievement proved merely to be a milestone on the way to even more impressive nine-level towers. In 1987, the first tres and quatre de nou amb folre arrived, and in 1989 the first completely successful tres de nou amb folre was achieved. Similar success came in 1990 with the first quatre de nou amb folre. The cap de colla between 1975 and 1994 was Carles Domènech.
Between 1995 and 2004, the group enjoyed its most successful years to date. During this period, the highest and most difficult towers were achieved: descarregats the torre de nou amb folre i manilles, pilar de set amb folre, pilar de vuit amb folre i manilles, quatre de vuit amb l’agulla, quatre de nou amb folre i l’agulla, cinc de nou amb folre, and tres and quatre de nou amb folre built simultaneously. There were other successes, too. As for towers that were “only” carregats : the torre de vuit ; quatre de nou, and the tres de deu amb folre i manilles. The group also won the Tarragona Human Towers Competition in 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006. In 2005 Castellers de Vilafranca achieved the torre de nou amb folre, which is considered the most difficult tower ever done by any group to date.
Francesc Moreno "Melilla" was the cap de colla between 1995 and 2003, and Lluís Esclassans from 2004 to 2007. David Miret was elected the new cap de colla in December 2007.

''Castells'' achieved

Castellers de Vilafranca have achieved in their history most of the constructions that have been seen in any performance. You will find below the detailed list of human constructions and the date in which they were topped or dismantled for the first time :
CASTELLDescarregat
Carregat
Tres de nou amb folre i agulla31 Aug 2009
Torre de nou amb folre30 Aug 2005
Tres de deu amb folre i manilles15 Nov 1998
Quatre de nou amb folre i tres de nou amb folre simultanis31 Aug 2001
Torre de vuit neta1 Nov 20101 Nov 1999
Quatre de nou1 Nov 2002
Quatre de nou amb folre i agulla1 Nov 19961 Nov 1995
Cinc de nou amb folre1 Nov 199730 Aug 1997
Pilar de vuit amb folre i manilles28 Sep 199731 Aug 1995
Torre de nou amb folre i manilles30 Aug 1995
Tres de nou amb folre30 Aug 198931 Aug 1987
Quatre de nou amb folre1 Nov 19901 Nov 1987
Quatre de vuit amb l'agulla8 Oct 1995
Cinc de vuit30 Aug 1985
Torre de vuit amb folre i pilar de set amb folre simultanis31 Aug 2006
Pilar de set amb folre1 Oct 199514 May 1995
Tres de vuit amb agulla29 Aug 1996
Dos pilars de sis simultanis 31 Aug 2001
Torre de vuit amb folre17 Nov 197412 Oct 1973
Tres de vuit30 Aug 19741 Oct 1972
Pilar de sis30 Aug 197219 Dec 1971
Quatre de vuit30 Aug 197112 Oct 1969
Nou de set11 Dec 1988
Torre de set24 Aug 1969
Tres de set aixecat per sota25 Nov 1973
Sis de set21 Jan 1997
Cinc de set amb agulla19 Apr 2008
Cinc de set26 Sep 196530 Aug 1965
Tres de set amb l'agulla10 Aug 1996
Quatre de set amb l'agulla5 Aug 195431 Aug 1953
Tres de set31 Aug 1949
Quatre de set31 Aug 1949
Torre de sis16 Jun 1949
Pilar de cinc14 Sep 1948

Organization

According to the general organization of the group, management is divided into two main bodies - a technical one, and an administrative one.
The Technical Committee is in charge of all aspects of human tower construction. The cap de colla has the most responsibility as he is the head of the tower-building side of the association. He is advised, supported and helped by a team composed of the sotscap de colla and two technical advisors. Three other teams depend on this core: the canalla team, the pinyes, folres and manilles team, and the medical team. Each of them is also responsible for logistics, technical information and physical training, respectively.
The Board Committee is in charge of the administration of the group. While it oversees and manages the group’s assets, the committee members' primary responsibility is to represent the group externally to the community, the media and other organizations. Within the board, the president has the most responsibility. The secretary and the five vice-presidents are answerable to him, and each of them is responsible for a specific area: social activities, treasurer, liaising with the public authorities, maintenance of Cal Figarot and marketing and media. The group also has three advisory councils: international relations, legal service and a council of elders.

Organization chart

Technical Committee

Cal Figarot is the group's headquarters. The neogothic-style building, built by August Font de Carreres at the end of the 19th century, was acquired in 1983. An adjacent warehouse was bought in 1998, and both buildings were renovated to better suit the group's needs. The warehouse has an interior open space of 600 square metres. The most important space is the courtyard, where the training sessions take place.

Castellers de Vilafranca in the world

The Castellers de Vilafranca have been one most international human tower group. They have performed in:
The Castellers de Vilafranca have also spread the human tower tradition in the Països Catalans :
Castellers de Vilafranca have won the Concurs de castells de Tarragona eight times''':