Ponts is involved in the 150th anniversary of Lo Ranxo

BridgesThe Lo Ranxo de Ponts festival is celebrating its 150th anniversary and the town has decided to offer a wide programme of activities to commemorate the event. In fact, the traditional escudella, of which up to 12,000 portions will be prepared on 4 March, has become an emblem and a magnet for visitors to the town. The events linked to the anniversary of the first written reference to the celebration will begin tomorrow, Thursday, with a meeting of gamers The programme prior to the celebration of the Rancho includes a series of conferences that will take place between 24 and 27 February, in which the participation of the local author Alba Vilanova Prat is expected, who will present her work The essence of the pantry, to the chef and populariser Sergi de Meià, with a talk on historical soups, as well as the writer Antoni Gelonch and the director of Casa Macià and former Minister of Culture Lluís Puig.

In fact, in this case the organisation of a meeting will be presented which will be held on Sunday 6th July in the Catalunya del Nord and which will include a tasting of Lo Ranxo de Ponts, as well as a meeting between the giant groups of Ponts and Elna, which are twinned. All this will be framed within the programme of the Aplec de Cultura Nacional which takes place annually in Prats de Molló.

The essence of Lo Ranxo

As for the events more closely linked to the Ranch, next Monday the traditional Lali - Lali will take place, an activity linked to the Carnival of Ponts through which the necessary ingredients are obtained to make the bowl. On the 4th, starting at six in the morning, the traditional lighting of the fifty copper cauldrons will take place. And at eleven on the same day the presentation of the A brief history of Lo Ranxo de Ponts, published by Editorial Mediterrània, with text by local writer Jaume Invernon and illustrations by Pilarín Bayés. Later, at midday, the traditional blessing of the pots will take place, this year with the sponsorship of the cook Ada Parellada, and the subsequent tasting for everyone.

However, the activities for the 150th anniversary of Lo Ranxo will extend until the end of the week, since on Thursday, March 6, Sergi de Meià will once again coordinate an activity show cooking and the concert has been scheduled for March 9th Having a good time: recital of vital song, by Anna Roig and Carles Belda. Both the Mayor of Ponts, Josep Tàpies, and the heads of the areas of Tourism and Culture, Pere Fenés and Maite González, have called for participation in the festival.