The Moors and Christians festivals of Xàbia already have representatives for this year. Lucía Serrano Osca and Vanessa Garrido Astorgano will be the Mora and Cristiana Standard Bearers of 2024. Lucía will represent the half moon side and belongs to the filà Baharis and Vanessa, from the filà Faciners, will represent the side of the cross. Their proclamation and beginning of their career as top officials of the party will take place next Saturday, February 17 during the traditional Mig Any events.
The two young women have had the party in their blood since they were born. Lucía is 19 years old and wants to train as a Nursing Assistant. The next Mora Standard Bearer has Baharis blood. Her grandparents were founders of the filà in 1986 and her parents are pillars of it today. Since she was born she has been part of the family of sailors of the Moorish side, parading every year except last 2023.
She recognizes that, since she was little, she wanted to be a Standard Bearer and with her career it was obvious that at some point the characteristic green band would rest on her shoulder and that moment has come in a very special year, since the Fila Baharis He has the honor of holding the 2024 Captaincy.
For her part, Vanessa is 29 years old and works in the real estate sector. She has been part of the party since she was six years old. Her first love within the party was the Moorish side. She started parading in the filà Schaitans where he was until 2014. His membership made his father, a renowned party-goer today, also join. In 2015 she did not march and promised herself "that it would never happen again."
Thus, in 2016, following the first Captaincy held by the filà Faciners, he participated in the party again, this time on the Christian side. Since then she has been part of this young filà that is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Now, deservedly and after years of being part of the party, she receives the position of Standard Bearer "with great enthusiasm and desire."
The two new Standard Bearers recognize that it is an honor to be able to represent the Moors and Christians festival. The party is part of them and they have been part of the party since they were very little. They know in detail the ins and outs of it and the effort and sacrifice it takes for all the festival-goers to carry it out for the public to enjoy.
"Being a Standard Bearer is a responsibility after so many years of enjoying it from the grassroots." "It is different and a privilege because, in the same way that you become the representative of your side and the party, you hope to reciprocate it with all the good it brings you and live up to it." They admit to being nervous, but they know that they have the support of the big party family that wants to see them shine.
The women who hold the title of Abanderada know that representation entails separating themselves, at the time of each act, from their own, from their filà. However, for Lucía and Vanessa it is also an opportunity to discover the party from another perspective and to share it, in first person, with the Captains and the Festival Board. Many acts will change for both since they will occupy a leading place in them and they have already announced which ones they hope to live as Standard Bearers.
Both are clear: the Landing and the Reconquest. They are acts of historical recreation in which their representation takes on special prominence, leading their respective sides to victory. They are also aware that they have to live each act, no matter how small, as if it were the last "because once it happens it will not be repeated as such again," they point out.
The two are proud to be able to champion the festival at a time when it has enjoyed a special impact in recent years as a result of the effort and work of its Festival Board and its ranks. "Now all that remains is for this brotherhood that exists between rows to be transferred to all the neighbors." "The party is open to everyone, our djellaba is our blouse and in the kabilas and barracks we all have a friend and we know that there is always a place at the table at lunch or dinner time."
Hallöchen Vanessa, grüssle von Carmen und Werner aus Grossbottwar