The Soller Valley loves EVENTS

Published in the Majorca Daily Bulletin
Tuesday 3rd November 2015

Photograph by Rachel Fox

Events in the Soller Valley are my obsession and occupy my waking thoughts and sometimes my dreams. The reason www.sollerweb.com came into being was because the wonderful events here were known only to a few. This was a big problem for the incomers of the last ten years. They really wanted to know about concerts, gallery openings, fun and serious events and where these happenings were being held. Social media has helped in the sharing of knowledge but a definitive list has only just emerged – thanks to the efforts of Sollerweb. Since our launch we have had an events listing which was better than nothing but now our expansion has taken us into a great new calendar page which also appears on the front of our website. You know you are doing something right when the Town Hall calls to compliment you on your work! We savoured that moment…

The events this past weekend have all had a Halloween theme and ten of them appeared in the Events Calendar for Saturday night alone. This year has changed the face of Halloween and given it a status equivalent to the parties that happen here on New Years Eve. The Isla Theatre Group staged a two-night extravaganza in a Finca in Biniaraix. I joined the hundreds that went there and exchanged my money for a handful of spiders. The spider was the currency of the evening and allowed me in to the most awesome haunted house specially built for the event by the Isla scenery designers. The spider enabled me to play ghostly skittles plus many other games and eat and drink a little. The place was packed with witches, wizards, cats and broomsticks and the sound of children enjoying themselves.

Meanwhile in the Port of Soller all generations got together to have a Halloween party. The seniors from the Third Age Club catered for all the children parading in costume around the Santa Catalina fishing area. In Soller City Centre live music was pounding for the adults Halloween and Rumba Nostra – a favoured local band – got everybody rocking. Deia and Fornalutx, not to be outdone had parties for the children and music in local bars and restaurants. It was a beautiful evening and the stars shone down on our beautiful valley and all will remember this very special time in our calendar.

The posters have just been released for another huge event in Soller. On Sunday 15th November Soller devotes itself to Swing and the Big Band Sound. This is a dance festival with a difference and the music is pure swing. The Train company have issued details of a very special price for a return trip from Palma as many hundreds of Swing Music fans are expected to descend on us. To coincide with all this great music a fiesta of food and drink is being prepared and will make it a day trip to remember. Swing in Soller has a great ring to it and we are all really looking forward to another innovation in the Soller calendar of events.

Show cooking is having its moment in Soller right now and its all courtesy of Tallat de Llluna. This is a kitchen showroom on the Son Angelats Industrial Estate that made a corner into a ‘Show Cooking Centre’. The tiered viewing area looks down on the illuminated kitchen and all can see the chefs work in progress. Two events before the end of the year give us a great learning experience. In November we can learn to cook with mushrooms which are in abundant supply. In December all thoughts turn to Christmas and a five course Christmas menu is the demonstration.

The traditions of the past are hand in hand with these newcomers. The Halloween growth is a sign of how ready people are to accept another opportunity in the year to party. Swing music in our square is sitting alongside all the traditional dances that happen spontaneously in this place. The cooking is another great use of space in a kitchen showroom and proof that business people are thinking about what they can bring to the Soller party.

Sollerics work hard and they also play hard. The capacity for enjoyment is never far from the mindset of the people who live here. In summer this effort is centred more on the beach and sea but as it gets cooler we are all drawn back to our City centre and what it can provide. 

Pop Ups are the next development here and the arrival of Supper Clubs. Many of our fine chefs have free time for a couple of months in winter and they have started Supper Clubs. They either will come and cook for you at home or organise a random dinner party where you don’t know who you going to be dining with. Newcomers to the Soller Valley this year are finding this a great way to get to know their neighbours.

So many events, so much to do and then there is still the option of curling up in front of the TV with a cup of tea. The best of all worlds here in the Soller Valley.