The music of Galicia is inspiring and blends ancient cultures and historic traditions. The Galician Gaita – bagpipe – immediately makes you feel like a “time traveler” and your mind is filled with many beautiful images of nature, magical forests, town festivals and so much more.  As you listen it makes you want to dance and share in the magic of the moment.

The Camino spirit is alive in all the festivals of Galicia – celebrating their rich, vibrant and alive culture. When visiting any of the fantastic Galician Festivals you feel immersed in the traditions and history that makes Galicia so unique!

We had a great time traveling from one festival to another and it was a very special day where we experience 3 very different Galician celebrations.  We ended the day with Festival de Pardiñas with a little “barbecoa” (BBQ) and live music Galician Style!

SUSANA SEIVANE – GALICIAN GAITA – Festival de Pardiñas August 4, 2013

“The Galician gaita or gaita de foles is a traditional bagpipe of Galicia and is very similar to those of Asturias and northern Portugal.

The word gaita is used across northern Spain as a generic term for “bagpipe”, although in the south of Spain and Portugal it denotes a variety of horn, flute or oboe like instruments according to region.

Suggestions as to the origin of the name gaita are many. It has been compared to the names of eastern European bagpipes, such as gaida, gajda, and gajdy. The linguist Joan Coromines has suggested that the word gaita most likely derived from a Gothic word gait or gata, meaning “goat”; as the bag of a gaita is made from a whole, case-skinned goat hide. Gothic was spoken in Spain from the sixth century to the eighth century when the country was ruled by theVisigoths. The Visigoths originated in eastern Europe.” – WIKIPEDIA