Gigantes y cabezudos
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In Spanish festivals, it is common to find a procession of gigantes y cabezudos ("giants and big-heads").
Gigantes
The giants are hollow figures several-meters tall depicting the upper part of a person and having a skirt on the lower part. The skirt covers a strong man that carries a harness linked to the internal structure. The portor turns and shakes the giant to the tune of a marching band. Giants usually parade in couples of gigante and giganta ("giantess"). Rich towns may have more than one couple. The figures usually depict archetypes of the town, such as the bourgeois and the peasant woman, or historical figures of local relevance, such as the founder king and queen.The usual materials are wood or aluminium for the frame, cloth for the shell and cardboard-rock for the head. Arms are usually loose cloth tubes with cardboard-rock hands. As the giant turns, the arms sweep the air.
Cabezudos
The Cabezudos are headmasks of a big hollow head covering the head and shoulders of the portor. An open mouth enables seeing. The portor (usually a young man) is usually in costume, and holds the mask with a hand. The other hand has a stick with a whip or pig bladder. With it he chases after children or young women. Sometimes he will pause to calm a weeping frightened child. The cabezudos also represent local types.Other fiesta figures
Paliqueiro (a kind of Galician cabezudo), Mari-Jaia (gigante of modern fiestas of Bilbao), Celedón, Gargantúa, Judas and Judesa, peropalo, toro de fuego, Olentzero, zaldiko, zanpantzar.Zarzuela
"Gigantes y cabezudos" is also the title of a zarzuela, placed in the El Pilar (12 October) festival of Zaragoza, picturing Aragonese types.
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